Big Trouble
by Audrey2419
Summary: Tony finds himself in peril as an escapee with a grudge comes looking for revenge. This story follows Trouble Rides a Fast Horse and Nothing But Trouble.
1. No Crocodiles

Hi everyone, yes, it's me again. My Muse decided that Tony and Eve needed one more play date. These two can't seem to stay out of trouble. This is the third story in this series. If you want any additional information about Eve Dupree please see Trouble Rides A Fast Horse and Nothing But Trouble. Okay, I still don't own NCIS or any of the characters on the show. I do own the ones that I've created… This chapter is dedicated to **crokettsgirl** for allowing me to bounce ideas off of her. I hope that you enjoy the first chapter in our journey…

No Crocodiles

_Don't think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm. - Malayan proverb  


* * *

_He had been trapped in this tiny 8' by 12' room for longer than he wanted to contemplate. He had alternated between periods of pacing the limited confines of his room and lying on the bunk scheming ways to escape. The walls of his cell were closing in on him every day he was forced to stay here. _No Bail_. Those had to be two of the worst words ever uttered by a judge.

He sighed and glanced at the clock on the wall outside his cell. Twenty four more hours here then he would be on his way to court for his evidence hearing. He smirked to himself, an evidence hearing he had forced, to make the government show part of their hand. He felt certain that the NCIS Agents involved would be present, but he was positive that Agent Dupree would be nowhere to be seen; John Maxwell would have her hidden and unavailable for the hearing. He knew that the FBI and the CIA wanted him to make a deal and make this go away, but he had no intention of doing that. Oh no, he planned on making sure that he got every hearing available to him under the justice system, because eventually his guards would slip up. Once that happened he intended to make the most of it. He had friends and contacts everywhere, and many of them had contacted him since his incarceration. They were willing to do whatever it took to assist his escape; the timing was the only question left.

Jeff Davis gave a private smile that didn't even come close to making it to his odd light blue eyes; he had a long, distinguished career as a covert operative to assist him in his escape and ultimately his revenge on those who had put him here. His time was coming. He could feel it.

* * *

Rain was gently hitting the window panes and filling the still-dark bedroom with its quiet symphony when a pair of sleepy green eyes finally pried themselves open. He yawned and turned back over in bed, content to just lie there and listen to the rain. Tony DiNozzo loved lazy Sunday mornings; he loved them even more when it was raining and there was nothing to do but spend the day with the woman sleeping next to him. He turned his head and studied her as she lay with her back to him, her creamy skin completely bare and her body totally relaxed in slumber. He reached out and gently traced the tiger tattoo that covered part of her back with a slight graze of his fingers. She stirred slightly but didn't wake, so he reached out and pulled her tight against his body.

She finally woke and mumbled, "You're squeezing me, Tony. I need air."

He rumbled deep in his chest and began to nuzzle her neck while whispering, "Good morning."

Eve Dupree sighed and turned over, facing him, her emerald green eyes hazy with sleep even as she tilted her head back to give him better access. "You're insatiable." She moaned slightly and her breathing became more ragged as he resumed his gentle assault on her neck. Never one to be outdone, she began her own sensual assault, her fingertips gently caressing the hard planes of his chest and stomach with a feather light touch. She could feel the muscles rippling under his skin and knew that she had him right where she wanted him. She gave a husky laugh, "Thank God neither of us has to work today."

Tony chuckled in reply and rolled on top of her, pressing her into the mattress. He stared into her eyes, his turning dark, almost black with desire, as he murmured, "Now who's insatiable?"

Her only answer was to twine her arms around his neck and claim his lips in a passionate kiss.

Hours later they finally surfaced to enjoy coffee and the quiet of their apartment. The only plans either of them had for the day was to go for a run if the rain lifted. When it finally appeared the rain had settled in to stay, they ensconced themselves on the sofa with a selection of movies, content to spend the day as far away from the rest of the world as possible.

* * *

The pattering of the rain gave Jethro Gibbs a feeling of contentment as he enjoyed his first cup of coffee of the day. He relaxed at his kitchen table and decided to spend his first free Sunday in months buried in his basement and his boat. He always reveled in the familiar feel of the wood beneath his hands, and a full day with no interruptions would allow him to make so much progress towards finishing this portion of the project. He also had another project in mind and wanted to work through the particulars before starting. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation of his day and headed towards the basement.

* * *

Timothy McGee sat at his typewriter and focused on the first chapter of his new book. The further adventures of Agent McGregor and his team beckoned to him and he settled in to work. Tim sighed and glanced at the notes he had made. He had actually spent some time interviewing Eve Dupree who had been quite gracious and who had, against Tony's advice, actually consented to give him some accurate information about her former profession. He intended to include a new character in this book, the mysterious CIA Operative Eden who entangles herself with Special Agent Tommy. His mind filled with ideas he grabbed a blank sheet of paper and commenced typing.

* * *

Ziva David dressed quickly and raced out to her car, dancing to avoid the falling rain. It was raining too heavily to even attempt a run, but she had a workout partner waiting for her at the gym. Her first free Sunday in what felt like forever would be spent at the gym then running the errands that she never had the time for during the work week. She missed Michael, who had returned to Tel Aviv a couple of weeks ago, and she decided to see if she had enough vacation time stored up to take a short trip home for a visit. She smiled to herself and began her very full day.

* * *

Monday morning dawned bright, sunny and cold with the promise of snow. Gibbs stopped at his favorite coffee shop and grabbed a double dose of caffeine before heading off to NCIS. He hoped that his people had enjoyed their day off, because the week already promised to be hell. They had the evidence hearing at the federal courthouse, as well as several active cases to investigate. He walked briskly towards the office, refreshed after a day of solitude.

Entering the bullpen he found his entire team already seated, McGee and Ziva teaming up against Tony who simply smiled and refused to rise to their bait. They all had court in a half hour, and Gibbs was pleased to see that they all looked relaxed enough. He hated the fact that Jeff Davis had tied up his entire team with this stupid hearing. He had spoken at length with the director, and had found out that Davis hoped that the CIA would be a no-show which might get the video evidence thrown out. Gibbs smirked as he thought about the discussion he'd had with all of the players on that sting. Everyone was showing up in court, including Trent Kort and Eve Dupree.

The only person who would be missing was Michael Rivkin because Mossad had declined to allow him to testify. Gibbs understood; he didn't like it, but he definitely understood. Rivkin couldn't afford to be outed, and the US Attorney had made certain his identity would never be mentioned in court. To protect the identities of the CIA Operatives in question, the judge had finally consented to allowing them to testify in a closed courtroom with only the lawyers and the judge present. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best possible solution to the problem. There was no way the FBI, NCIS, or the CIA were going to allow this traitor to walk away, and they had banded together in a rare show of unity to ensure that it didn't happen.

His attention was captured by the appearance of Eve Dupree in the bullpen. It disturbed him that her presence had become a common occurrence since her return home from Afghanistan several months prior; she and Tony had managed to spend most of their lunches together, and they generally worked out together in the NCIS gym several nights a week. This morning, however, she carried multiple cups of coffee on a tray, and she distributed them to McGee, Ziva and finally Tony before settling herself on the corner his desk.

She turned her head and subjected Gibbs to one of her soul-searching stares. It had always made him uncomfortable when she did that, because more often than not her eyes were devoid of any emotion and reminded him of a shark's eyes. He finally nodded a greeting to her which she returned with a grudging smile before she turned back to her coffee.

About thirty minutes before they were due in court the entire group walked out of the bullpen together all headed to the garage and their respective vehicles, each of them anxious to get this court date behind them.

* * *

Two hours later they were all cursing the court system that was so slow. Their hearing hadn't even begun, the process was held up by the fact that the defendant had not been transported to the courthouse as of yet. Something was gnawing at Gibbs' gut as he thought about Jeff Davis. He decided to call Fornell and get a head's up on where on the route his people were. Before he could even dial, his phone began to vibrate in his hands. He snapped it open answering, "Gibbs."

"We have a problem."

'What kind of problem, Tobias? Where are your people; we've been waiting here for two hours for this damn hearing to start."

"Jethro, that's the problem. We lost contact with our people. We don't know where they are."

"Activate the GPS in the vehicle and get us a location. I'll have my team go check it out."

"No, you wait there for the hearing to start; I'll send some of my people. I'll call once I have more news."

Gibbs hung up the phone without saying good-bye and turned to the group who was looking at him with expectation on their faces. He sighed to himself. When he told them that the FBI had lost contact with its prisoner transport they were all going to become very agitated.

"That was Fornell. The FBI has lost contact with the prisoner transport." As he expected there was some mumbling from everyone. He continued, "He's activating the GPS and sending a team to check out the situation. He'll call us as soon as he knows more."

Tony grew pale. His father was on the way here today to testify about some of the information his company had turned over to the US Attorney's office. He grabbed Eve by the shoulder and whispered, "Have you spoken with my father's protection detail today?"

She shook her head and reached for her encrypted phone and dialed quickly. A minute later she was having a rapid discussion in Creole that had everyone, with the exception of Tony, starring at her in confusion. She spoke for several minutes then snapped the phone shut. She turned to Tony and pulled his head down to murmur in his ear, "He's fine. Jean-Paul and the boys will be hyper-vigilant until we know where Davis is. These guys are good, Tony. They like your dad; it's a great gig for them. They'll take care of him."

Gibbs watched the pair with a speculative light in his blue eyes. They obviously had secrets between them, and if he had to guess he would say that whatever that discussion had been about, it had had something to do with the missing Jeff Davis. He resolved to speak to Tony about whatever was going on. He _did not_ like it at all when his people kept things from him. His phone began to vibrate again. He answered quickly. "Gibbs."

"Jethro, Davis is in the wind. We found the van on P Street. Both Agents were dead, and our prisoner was gone. We need to get a BOLO for Davis and make sure that his mugshot is on the radar of every law enforcement organization for a hundred miles."

"_Ya think_, Tobias? Did you call the US Attorney?"

"That was the first call I made."

Gibbs grumbled and hung up his phone in disgust. He glanced at his people again. They could read the news on his face before he could give it to them.

Ziva didn't pull any punches. "He is gone, yes?"

Gibbs nodded. "His escort is dead; he's in the wind."

The group quickly turned and left the courthouse on their way back to their respective offices.

Tony had been studying Eve since Gibbs made the first announcement. He held her back. "I don't like that look in your eyes. Where's your head at?"

She looked at him with a hooded gaze and flashed a smile that did not reach her eyes. "I was just thinking that I might get my chance to kill that bastard after all."

Tony sighed. He knew that first and foremost Eve had been an assassin, and it was difficult to change thought patterns that had been engrained over a fifteen year period. He wondered if it was worth it to even try. Generally her instincts in that area were flawless. He grasped her hand and led her from the building in an attempt to catch up to the rest of the group.

They were passing a passenger van that was parked on the curb when a sudden explosion rent the air with fire, smoke, and scorching debris.

Tony felt himself thrown violently backward, his hand was wrenched from Eve's and his head hit the pavement with a sickening pop. He tried to focus his eyes to see where she was, but all he could see was smoke and burning debris. He finally gave in and closed his eyes, the pain and darkness overwhelming him.

Eve felt something hot and heavy strike her in the back. Her hand was wrenched from Tony's grasp, and she hit the ground hard, her arm stopping her from planting her face on the concrete. She looked desperately for Tony and the rest of his team, but couldn't see for the blood in her eyes. She finally rested her cheek on the ground and tried to breathe, finding only pain as she gasped for air.

Gibbs, Ziva and McGee had been far enough ahead that the explosion threw them to the ground, but they avoided the majority of the debris. Gibbs turned around looking desperately for Tony, seeing only the smoke that filled the air and the fire that burned. He raced back to where the explosion had occurred, never realizing that he was shouting at the top of his lungs, _**"TONY!"**_


	2. Eight Times

I don't own NCIS or any of the characters on the show. I do own the ones that I've created. **Lot56**, I appreciate what you said about Gibbs' interaction with Eve. I wondered how Gibbs would react to someone who was permanently a part of Tony's life, and I decided that he might be a wee bit jealous. He likes the hero-worship even if he won't admit it. I can't believe I blew everyone up in the first chapter. Hmmm, I should probably pace myself… Not! Here is the next chapter in our journey. Enjoy and let me hear from you.

Eight Times

_Fall seven times, stand up eight. -- __Japanese Proverb  
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* * *

  
_Gibbs ran towards the explosion straight into the acrid smoke and flame that still burned the remains of the van. He turned desperate eyes in all directions, urgently searching for Tony. Within five minutes of the explosion emergency services had swarmed the scene, and quickly rushed past him as they began their search for victims.

Gibbs was stubborn, so when the firefighters and EMTs were through trying to push him back from the explosion, he continued into the smoke in an attempt to find Tony and Eve. He found Tony first. He was laying still, his eyes closed and blood coming from both nostrils and each ear. Gibbs yelled for the rescue workers to hurry over, dropping to his knees beside him. He put gentle fingers on his throat and sucked in a relieved breath when he felt the pulse, steady and strong. The EMTs pushed him aside and quickly and efficiently began to assess Tony's injuries and prepare him for transport.

Gibbs quickly placed a hand on the EMT's arm and insisted, "Transport him to Bethesda."

The man gave him a nod in acknowledgment and with some assistance got Tony on a backboard and immobilized his neck. They quickly had him out of the area and on the way to the hospital.

Gibbs resisted the urge to follow and, knowing that Tony would never forgive him if he didn't, kept looking for Eve. A couple of minutes later he found her, laying face down on the pavement under a large piece of debris. He pulled the metal off of her and found himself relieved when she slowly turned her head to meet his eyes. Her face was covered in blood which was still oozing from a scalp laceration.

She took a deep breath, "Where's Tony…Is he…" She stopped, unable to continue and waited for Gibbs to answer her unspoken question.

"He's alive, unconscious and on his way to Bethesda. I don't know any more than that."

She began to struggle to get up. "Help me up; we need to get to the hospital."

Gibbs placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and tried to keep her from moving. "You need to wait for the EMTs to check you out."

Eve practically snarled, "Help me up _goddamn it_! We need to get to the hospital. This was not a random act!"

Another pair of EMTs finally made their way over and interrupted the exchange. The young woman and her male partner helped Eve up and over to their vehicle sitting just away from the site of the explosion. They immediately began to assess her, shining a light in her eyes to check her pupils and cleaning up the worst of the blood.

Eve finally tired of their ministrations and snapped, "If you don't get that fucking light out of my eyes I'm going to make you eat it!"

Gibbs smothered a laugh at the shocked expression that crossed the young man's face at her blunt language. He quickly backed off. "Ma'am, you need to go to the hospital. You could have a concussion. At the bare minimum you've got some broken ribs, contusions, burns, and…" His voice trailed off when he realized he wasn't making any headway.

Gibbs watched Eve as she stiffened. He knew the signs because he had seen it in combat many times. She had slipped into survival mode, and was not going to listen to anything these people might say. He finally stepped in before someone got hurt. "I'll take her; her partner was just transported to Bethesda. Call ahead and let them know that NCIS is transporting one."

The pair looked relieved as the tall silver haired man led the woman away. They glanced at each other and shrugged as if to say, "It takes all kinds…"

* * *

Gibbs left Ziva and McGee behind to begin to process the scene along with the FBI and other NCIS teams that swarmed to the site. He was leading Eve to his car when he passed Ducky and Palmer making their way to assist with the fatalities.

"Jethro, where's Tony?" He stopped abruptly. "Oh my dear, have you been seen by the EMTs?"

"We're heading over to the hospital to check on Tony, Duck. As soon as I know something I'll call." Gibbs placed a hand on the small of Eve's back, noticing when she flinched in pain and gently pushed her towards the car.

The trip to the hospital took half the time it normally would. Gibbs drove with even less regard for the law than he did on a normal day. Eve took no notice of his driving, laying her head back against the seat cushion. A headache had started at the back of her head, and she was fighting to control the nausea that threatened to rise. She had one thought in mind, and that was to collect Tony and get the hell out of town before Davis could come after them again. She had to make sure that he could travel. She also had to contact Jean-Paul and make sure they headed to the safe-house.

Once they arrived at the hospital she wasted no time in entering the doors to the emergency room. She was immediately grabbed by an intern who whisked her into a cubicle and began to assess her. Gibbs accosted the first doctor he saw and was astonished when it was Dr. Pitt.

"Brad! Have you seen Tony?"

The tall doctor nodded his head and motioned to a nearby exam room. "He's got a severe concussion. He's been in and out since he arrived here. The only thing he wants to know is where Eve is. I'd really like to find her to see if that will calm him down. I also need to find Eve Dupree. Is this person one and the same? She's listed on his paperwork as his next of kin."

Gibbs stopped in his tracks, shocked and a little hurt by that announcement. "She's what?"

"Listed as his next of kin. I need to speak to her."

"One of your interns took her into that room." Gibbs pointed to a small cubicle with the curtains drawn and watched at Dr. Pitt entered the room. He walked into Tony's cubicle and sat on the stool by the bed. He looked at his Senior Field Agent who was oblivious to his scrutiny. "Ah, DiNozzo…you've really gotten in deep with her. I guess I'm going to have to learn to deal with it. Obviously she's not going anywhere." He placed a gentle hand on Tony's arm and thought about all of the years they had worked together. He had been Tony's next of kin from almost his first day at NICS. It was hard to admit, but he didn't like the feeling of being usurped even though he knew that it was the most natural thing in the world.

The curtains were pulled back, and Gibbs stepped away from the bed as Dr. Pitt helped Eve into the small room. She immediately sat down by the bed and entwined her fingers with Tony's. She leaned forward and began to whisper to him. Gibbs could only make out snatches of what she said, but could tell that she was asking him to wake up for her.

Tony could hear her soft voice by his ear, and he began to struggle against the darkness. His eyes fluttered and finally opened. He squeezed her hand and lay there, trying hard to keep his head still so the nausea would stay away. "Evie, are you okay?" His voice was barely a whisper and she had to lean forward to catch what he said.

"I'm fine. I was lucky, I have a couple of broken ribs and some second degree burns on my back. I got some sutures in my scalp. I'm worried about you. You have a bad concussion, but we're lucky that you're not bleeding into your brain. You took a bad knock to that hard head of yours."

Brad and Gibbs stood in the background watching the two as they discussed their various injuries. The doctor turned to the former marine and motioned him into the hallway. "I seem to remember her from last year when Tony was in here with the gunshot wound to the chest."

Gibbs nodded and was distracted by the appearance of a tall distinguished man dressed in a beautifully cut three piece Italian suit. He was followed by a four man security team, and wasted no time going up to the reception desk to ask for the condition of Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Gibbs studied the man for a minute. He could clearly see the resemblance between the two men with the only difference being that Tony's eyes were green and not the dark brown possessed by this man.

The nurse pointed in their direction and the entourage made their way over. Mr. DiNozzo held out his hand to Dr. Pitt and gave him a firm handshake. He repeated that same action with Gibbs, all the while introducing himself to both men. Gibbs was at a loss for what to say, and was saved from making small talk by Eve.

Mr. DiNozzo walked over to her and drew her into a brief embrace. He looked at her injuries and gave her a small smile then asked, "Where is my son?"

She nodded towards the cubicle and gave the bigger man a gentle push. "Don't excite him. He's got a hell of a headache." She watched as Mr. DiNozzo was reunited with his son then turned her attention to the security detail. She narrowed her eyes and got right into the center of the group, confronting all four men. She was easily a half a foot shorter than the smallest of them, but wasn't intimidated as she began to argue with them in a mixture of Spanish, Creole and French.

"_What the fuck were you thinking to bring him here? Tony and I both have targets on our backs and you just put one on his as well."_

Jean-Paul was unapologetic. _"He insisted on seeing his son. We can protect him."_

She paused and counted to ten before replying. _"I want you to take him to the safe-house on Key West. Get the plane ready, I'll meet you at the airport as soon as I can sneak Tony out of here. We need a safe place to regroup and heal, and no one, not even John, knows about the Key West property."_

"_Got it. We'll meet you there."_

"_Jean-Paul, if you even suspect a threat, then you shoot first and ask questions later. Davis is a serious player and I want him on my turf playing by my rules."_

The big man nodded in agreement and they hustled their charge out of the hospital as soon as he left his son's cubicle.

Gibbs grabbed her arm in a not so gentle grip. "What the hell is going on here and don't tell me nothing or that you've got it all under control, because my agent is lying on a hospital bed and could have been killed."

Eve gave the former marine a look that clearly showed her frustration. "First of all, _Jethro_, don't shout at me. I was there and know exactly how this could have gone down. Now you want to know what's going on? What the hell do you think is going on? Davis escapes and suddenly a van explodes right as Tony and I are passing it. You'd have to be stupid not to make the connection, and you're not stupid. Now, let go of my arm, it hurts from being thrown to the pavement, and I don't want to make it worse by having to put you down."

Gibbs let go of her abruptly, for the first time noticing that he had been squeezing. His fingers left red marks on her skin. "I didn't realize I was holding on to you that tight."

She nodded, "Apology accepted. Now I'm going back in to sit with Tony. Why don't you go and get a cup of coffee. Hopefully they'll either release him or give him a more comfortable place to rest."

Gibbs decided that he really could use some caffeine and turned to head to a nearby coffee shop. He stopped long enough to ask, "You want anything?"

"No, thanks. I'm wired from all of the adrenaline; the last thing I need is caffeine. See you in a bit." She went back into the curtained room leaving him alone in the hallway with Brad.

The doctor turned to Gibbs and flashed a rueful smile. "I think I understand what Tony sees in her. She's got some kind of spirit."

Gibbs turned to walk away mumbling under his breath, "You have no idea."

* * *

Once Eve was sure she was alone with no doctors or nurses around she went into action. She found her bag and was relieved to find her encrypted phone. She made three phone calls then left the cubicle to scavenge some scrubs for Tony to wear. As soon as she had found them she went back to the small space and woke him up.

"Get up, Tony. We've got to get out of this hospital and to a safe place." He opened his eyes and slowly sat up.

"Jesus, my head hurts and I really feel like I need to puke."

"Puke later. We've got to leave." She helped him dress and with him leaning heavily on her small frame they left the hospital unobserved.

The cab that she had called was waiting and she directed the driver to a bank in Georgetown. Twenty minutes later she entered the bank. Tony sat with his head reclined against the seat cushions, dozing slightly as he waited. She returned from the bank with a bag in hand and then directed the driver to Dulles Airport.

* * *

Gibbs walked back down the hall feeling slightly better after half a cup of coffee. He had contacted the rest of the team to inform them that DiNozzo and Dupree would be okay, and that he would call if the hospital decided to keep one or both of them. He entered the small cubicle expecting to see Tony sleeping and Eve sitting by his side and was mystified to find the room completely empty.

He grabbed Brad from the hallway and asked in a demanding tone, "Where the hell is DiNozzo?"

The doctor looked confused and responded, "He's in his room, isn't he?"

Gibbs exploded. "Hell no he's not." He was furious. That damned little bitch had tricked him into leaving so she could abscond with Tony. Where the hell would she hide, that was the million dollar question. He knew that he would need help, so Gibbs snatched his phone from his pocket and quickly dialed. "Ziva, DiNozzo and Dupree have gone missing. We need to start looking. Go check his apartment and send McGee to her parents."

"Of course. We will take care of it."

He closed the phone without saying goodbye and left the hospital without another word.

* * *

With the assistance of Jean-Paul and his crew, Eve was able to get Tony up the stairs and onto the small gulfstream. She got him settled on a couch with his head in her lap and waited for the jet to taxi down the runway towards take-off.

Eve sighed and carefully ran her fingers through Tony's hair as she pondered their situation. Gibbs was going to kill her, but at this point she didn't really care. She wanted Tony somewhere safe so he could recover, and somewhere she would see Davis coming if he figured out where they were. Weighing those needs against Gibbs' anger had left her with no other choice to make. Tony's safety came first, and she would deal with the fallout when and if it came. She closed her eyes, swallowing hard against her own pain and tried to doze as the plane took to the sky towards Miami and safety.


	3. Things Provided

I don't own NCIS or any of the characters on the show. I only like to play with them, but I promise to put them back in pristine condition. Here is the next chapter in our journey. Enjoy and let me hear from you.

Things Provided

_Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them. – Richard L. Evans__  
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* * *

  
_Gibbs paced the bullpen, furious. It had been three days, three days of searching and there was still no sign of Tony or Eve. That there had also been no word from either of them was disconcerting and a bit frightening. Gibbs had tried everyone he could think of to get information on where she might hide to no avail. Her parents had taken an impromptu vacation, and Tony's father was nowhere to be found. To say that he and Fornell were frustrated would be an understatement.

Davis was still on the loose, he had not left the country, of that they were certain, but whether or not he was still in the city was anyone's guess. They had exhausted all of the leads to his possible whereabouts, and were now waiting for a sighting to get the search amped back up into high gear.

In an attempt to find the two missing agents, Gibbs and Fornell had made a trip to Langley to speak to John Maxwell in the hope that he might have an idea of where Eve Dupree might run to, but they had been disappointed. John Maxwell either didn't know or wasn't telling, and the old spy was too skilled for them to trip him up in an interrogation. The only piece of advice he'd had for them had consisted of reminding Gibbs that she had contacts in every city beginning in Miami and heading south. He hadn't known quite what to make of that, so he had gone to Ducky for assistance. He'd left the old ME a redacted copy of the personnel file he'd received from Langley and hoped that Ducky could find some insight into their whereabouts.

The only promising lead had taken them to the airport. Ziva had managed to find the cab driver who had picked the pair up at the hospital. He had explained that the two passengers had wanted to stop by a bank first then had wanted to go to Dulles airport. The man had obviously been very ill, and hadn't said too much, but the driver could tell that he was there of his own free will.

Gibbs had been unable to get a warrant for the safe deposit box that Eve had visited because there was no record of any in her name. This case just kept reinforcing why he hated dealing with the Agency. He did have one thing that kept him from panicking; Gibbs knew that Eve Dupree loved Tony, and he also knew that she would protect him until his injuries healed. That was the one port he had in this storm on uncertainty, and he was clinging to it until he heard from his surrogate son and knew for certain that he was okay.

* * *

The morning sun streaming through the bedroom window was the only thing that finally pulled Tony from a deep slumber. He opened his eyes slowly, expecting the return of the nausea and headache that had plagued him every morning since their arrival here in Miami. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he had no pain, and was actually hungry for the first time in a couple of days. He sat up, gingerly swinging his long legs over the side of the bed and finally stood up, swaying a bit until he regained his equilibrium.

He was still sore as hell. His entire body felt bruised, and he knew it would be weeks before he could consider himself completely healed. He didn't even remember getting to Miami, the last thing he really remembered was waking up in the hospital then…nothing. He hoped that his memory would come back in time, but he knew from past concussions that it was entirely possible he'd never remember.

Tony glanced around the bedroom looking for Eve. She had been his constant companion and nurse since their arrival at the apartment on Calle Ocho, and he was grateful, especially when he'd finally gotten a look at her own injuries. She was a mess, but had put aside her own discomfort to take care of him once it became obvious that his concussion was going to keep him bedridden for several days.

He slowly walked towards the small bathroom and opened the door only to find her kneeling in front of the toilet vomiting and holding her broken ribs between attacks of nausea. He knelt beside her and carefully pulled her hair back from her face. "Are you okay?"

She looked at him with an incredulous expression before mumbling, "Do I look okay to you?" She took a deep breath and swallowed convulsively to attempt to hold the nausea at bay then continued. "I can't seem to stop throwing up. I've been sick ever since the explosion, I think I might have a concussion, I don't know, but I've been vomiting for three days straight."

He helped her to stand up and steadied her while she cleaned up and brushed her teeth then led her back to the bedroom. "Lay down. It's my turn to take care of you for a while." Once she was settled he walked to the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth from the towel rack. He ran it under the faucet then returned to the bed and proceeded to run it over her face and neck, gently sweeping her dark hair away from her face. He also checked the sutures that were in her scalp laceration and was relieved to find them healing well. "You wore yourself out taking care of me, Evie. Who was looking after you?"

She lay there completely still, enjoying the feel of the cold wet cloth as he gently bathed her skin. "I was, as best as I could. I know you do a better job of it, but you were slightly incapacitated." She reached a hand up to trace the lines around his eyes, lines that hadn't been so prominent when she had met him in Colombia. "I don't know why you stay with me. I've done nothing but almost get you killed since the day we met."

"You can't possibly blame yourself for that explosion." He was stunned by her statement.

"You never would have been in his crosshairs if not for me. I would have simply killed him as soon as he hit our radar, there wouldn't have been a need to investigate or arrest him, and he certainly wouldn't be on the loose right now."

He shook his head at her convoluted logic. "That makes absolutely no sense; that's your concussion talking. As soon as you rest we're going to start looking for him. Do you have a phone I can use; I don't know what happened to my departmental issue phone."

"I left it at the hospital. I didn't want them tracking us with the GPS. There are a couple of burn phones in the kitchen. I know you need to call Gibbs. Tell them we'll be back in the city soon."

Tony nodded and put a gentle hand on her cheek. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a couple of hours." He slowly walked from the room and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Gibbs was sitting at his desk going through their nearly non-existent evidence when his cell phone rang. He answered in a rather abrupt tone. "Gibbs."

"Morning, Boss."

"DiNozzo! Where are you? How are you?" Gibbs could hear McGee in the background initiating a phone trace as he spoke.

"I'm much better; three days of uninterrupted rest will work wonders. We're coming back to DC in a day or two."

He was relieved to hear his second's voice, and he did sound better. "Where are you now?"

Tony sighed and tried to sidestep the rather direct question. "Somewhere safe, and don't bother getting McGeek to try and trace this call. It won't work."

Gibbs grinned at the deflection and kept pushing. "Where are Agent Dupree, her parents, and your father?"

Tony began to get impatient. "Boss, Eve is with me. I don't know where her parents are, but I'm sure she does. My father is at a safe house until Davis is captured. That's all I know. I'll call you once we get back to the city."

The phone went dead in Gibbs' ear, and he stifled a curse. He looked at McGee to see if the computer expert had been able to glean any information from the phone trace. "Get anything?"

"Nothing, Boss. I'll see if I can trace the cell towers used; that might get us a general location at least."

Gibbs nodded, "Work with Abby. She's been a wreck since Tony disappeared from the hospital. Let her know that he sounds good and says he'll be back in a couple of days."

McGee stood and headed out of the bullpen towards the lab relieved that he finally had some good news for Abby. Gibbs waited a few minutes then headed towards Autopsy with the same mission in mind.

* * *

Jeff Davis smirked to himself as he looked at his motley crew of former intelligence officers. They had pulled off the escape of the century and had just missed killing both Agents DiNozzo and Dupree. The pair had disappeared from the grid, but if he knew John's protégée then she would make another appearance soon. Davis was reasonably certain that she would have orders to kill him on sight, so he had taken some time to find out as much about her as possible.

He glanced through the dossier that had been provided by one of his associates and began to read. She had solid skills, both weapons and languages. She had spent the majority of her career in Central and South America as well as Afghanistan. She had been very efficient in taking out the heads of some of the major cartels and poppy growers during her tenure. Somehow last year she had gotten mixed up with Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Davis shook his head at that irony. By all accounts DiNozzo was a screw up, but they were together, were living together according to a source at NCIS. It looked like DiNozzo was her weakness and she was his if the reports of his behavior after her disappearance were to be believed. He gave a satisfied nod. Yeah, this was definitely information he could use once they made an appearance back in DC.

* * *

Ducky sat quietly at his desk and once again perused the file in front of him. It was redacted, but he had called a friend at Homeland Security and had gotten a more readable copy of the redacted information. It made for a fascinating study in how the CIA turned a well-brought up young woman into a remorseless killer. He sighed as he turned yet another page describing her kills. He had definitely come to some conclusions, and he wasn't sure how much Jethro was going to want to hear them.

The quiet _whoosh_ of the autopsy doors alerted him to the presence of his visitor. He glanced up to find Gibbs bearing down on him quickly so he closed the file and gave his full attention to his long-time friend.

"What can I do for you, Jethro?"

"I heard from Tony this morning. He says he's doing better, but he won't say where he is. He did say that they'll be back in DC in a couple of days."

"And you're upset that he didn't tell you everything you wanted to know?"

Gibbs gave a smile that was closer to a grimace then replied, "There was a time he told me everything."

"That time passed when you 'retired' to Mexico and returned so abruptly. Since that time he's had several crises, and no one, not even you, to help him deal with them. Why would he feel that he needed to tell you this? He has someone in his life that he trusts to always be there."

Gibbs began to get frustrated. "Hey! I was there for him when she disappeared and his life went to hell in a hand basket."

"Yes you were, and I'm sure he appreciated it. However, Eve is the woman he is choosing to spend his life with, so she is the one to whom he will confide."

"He made her his next of kin." Gibbs could hear the petulance in his voice, but couldn't seem to help himself.

"Yes I know." Ducky's tone was matter of fact as he watched his old friend's reaction.

"Wait a minute. You _already_ know? How?"

"Tony discussed it with me before he made the change. He wanted to know how I thought you'd handle it. I must say, I thought you'd be proud that he had decided to settle down with someone. I never thought you'd be upset about it. Don't disappoint the boy by letting him know that you aren't happy for him. However you may feel about Eve Dupree he loves her and won't take kindly to you disparaging her in any way."

"Duly noted, Duck. Now, what did you find out?"

I have done as thorough a study on Agent Dupree as possible. I was aided by an associate who works at the Department of Homeland Security and was able to get more information from their files.

She's a former gymnast who was an alternate on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. An injury to her knee and a complete reconstruction put an end to that particular dream when she was sixteen. That same year she was the only surviving witness to her grandparents' murder at the hands of the Cartagena Drug Cartel. She is half Cuban, and seems to blend well in most Spanish speaking communities. She is fluent in six different languages and, according to her un-redacted file, was in the process of learning several others."

Ducky paused for a second then told him the juiciest bit of information he'd gleaned. "Jethro, she spent almost twelve years of her career with the Agency working exclusively as an assassin."

Gibbs considered that and then asked, "How many sanctioned kills do they list?"

"85. Is that a high number for someone in her profession?"

"It's high enough, and it doesn't include any unsanctioned kills she might have made. Where do you think she'd take DiNozzo if she wanted to feel safe?"

"Hmmm, all of my research has led me to believe that she'd most likely go to a place she could blend and not be noticed. I have two ideas on that front. She might go to Los Angeles because she spent so much time there training when she was a child. The drawback is that the city still holds negative memories for Anthony and she has done this to protect him. Therefore I think my second idea is the better one. It wouldn't be out of character for her to make contact with her Cuban roots. Have you checked Miami? That's where her grandparents lived, and the last place she had a stable home."

Gibbs smiled. "Thanks Duck." He turned and headed out of the room to find McGee and get him looking for a paper trail."

* * *

Tony sat quietly at the kitchen table sipping at a cup of coffee and waiting for his visitor to arrive. A few minutes later he heard the knock and opened the door to admit his father to the small apartment.

He reached out to shake his hand, but was still wary of any physical contact. "Dad, it's good to see you."

Mr. DiNozzo smiled and nodded his head at Tony's improved appearance. "You're looking better. I'm glad to see you up and around."

"I wanted to see you before we head back to DC." Tony saw no reason to beat around the bush.

"What about Davis? Will you be safe? Son, be reasonable; that man has tried to kill you three times now. He might succeed the next time."

"It's my job to find him, and I refuse to let him stop me from doing it just because I might be in danger."

"What would Eve say about that?"

Both men jumped when a voice behind them said, "She'd say that he's right and we both have a job to do."

"I see, you think he's doing the right thing?"

"He's doing the only thing he can. Tony is a sworn Federal Agent, and Davis is a traitor. You tell me, Mr. DiNozzo, what do you think he should do?"

The older man looked at his son and saw the determination on his face. He felt a flush of pride in the man his son had become and felt shame in the fact that he had not done a thing to contribute to this transformation. "You do what you've got to do, Son; I understand. I may not like it, but I understand."

Eve could tell that the conversation was difficult for Tony, so she strolled over and stood behind him, putting her arms around his neck and resting her cheek on his head.

Tony was grateful for her support. He had been watching his father carefuly and could see that he was struggling with his emotions, so he was completely unprepared to hear him say. "I'm proud of you, Son."

His throat tightened and he hastily cleared it to reply, "Thanks. That really means a lot."

Both men stood and shook hands then Mr. DiNozzo quickly pulled his son in for a brief hug. "Be careful; I hope that I'll see you back in New York once you've completed the job."

Tony nodded and watched as his father left the apartment. Then turned to his lover and smiled. "You feeling better?"

"Much. Are you ready to go back and kick some ass?"

Tony gave a wolfish grin and replied. "Oh yeah, Let's do it."


	4. Finding Foes

I don't own NCIS or any of the characters on the show. I do own the ones that I've created. Here is the next chapter in our journey. Enjoy and let me hear from you.

Finding Foes

_Scratch a lover, and find a foe. -- Dorothy Parker_ _  
_

* * *

Tony didn't like this scenario one little bit. He and Eve were waiting somewhere along the Miami waterfront surrounded by dilapidated warehouses waiting for a contact of hers to arrive. She held in her hand a bag that was vaguely familiar. He finally recalled seeing it when they were in the taxi on their way to the airport.

He had looked in the bag earlier while she had showered, and had been shocked to find it filled with cash and IDs, including several with his picture on them. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but when she had emerged from the bathroom dressed and coiffed he decided that he really didn't want the answers quite yet. He knew on some level that whatever they were they were probably going to disturb him to no end, so in true DiNozzo fashion he put off asking even though he knew he needed to.

She had attempted to go alone to this meeting, but he had quickly put that idea to rest and insisted on accompanying her. He'd been warned in advance to keep his eyes open and his mouth shut. She'd handed him a gun that had been stashed somewhere in a closet, and had also armed herself. Watching her as she waited he realized that she had a look about her that he hadn't seen since he met her in Colombia. She looked completely professional and almost detached from the things taking place around her.

He knew that she was still in pain, hell they both were. His ribs were wrapped painfully tight just as hers were, but this operation would continue, and the attempts on both their lives wouldn't cease until Davis was in custody or dead. Tony was shocked at himself when he realized he was leaning more towards the dead option. He knew that's what she wanted, and probably why they were at this meeting.

His attention was drawn by the slight man arriving with a rather large bodyguard. Eve stepped up and nodded at the pair. "Wilson, thanks for meeting me here on such short notice."

Thomas Wilson shook his head and looked at the slight woman. He eyed the larger man she had with her and his guard flinched slightly. Wilson gave a quick shake of his head and turned back to Eve. "Did I really have a choice? Don't answer that, we both know that I don't. Who's this guy? Is the Tiger Woman working with a partner now?"

Eve ignored his questions and merely asked, "Did you bring what I asked for?"

Wilson handed her a large bag wordlessly and watched as she went through it. She gave a dangerous smile and handed him a smaller bag filled with cash. "For your trouble. I'll contact you the next time I'm headed south."

Wilson gave a brief nod and walked away quickly leaving Tony alone on the dock with Eve and the mysterious bag. She finished cataloging the inventory contained within and zipped it closed.

"What did we just do?" His curiosity had finally gotten the best of him, and he was a bit worried that they had just done something _very_ illegal.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and motioned to the bag. "Take a look."

Filled with trepidation he slowly grasped the zipper and pulled it open. He glanced within the bag and closed his eyes. "Jesus, Eve. What the hell are you planning to do with all of this?" He swallowed as he waited for her answer. His two second inventory had revealed several blocks of C4 explosive, about a dozen handguns of varying calibers, several silencers, and at least two assault rifles.

She gave him a predatory smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I just want a level playing field the next time I meet up with Mr. Davis."

"We just completed an illegal arms deal. Isn't that what we were trying to stop in the first place?"

"What the hell are you talking about? We didn't buy anything. All of this is mine. I simply gave him a delivery fee. It's all completely clean and untraceable. Wilson just keeps an eye on it for me until I need something from my stash. He owes me a few favors."

Tony felt a wave of relief wash over him. "Sometimes I wonder about you. How do you get this stuff?"

She smirked, "That's not something you really want the answer to, Tony. Trust me on that, suffice to say that I have it and we're going to use it.

"When are we heading back?"

"In a couple of hours. I have the pilot getting the jet ready."

"Yeah, that's the other thing. Where did the jet come from?"

"You'll have to ask your father about that. He leased it under an alias. We don't get to keep it, more's the pity. We need to go and get everything ready and head to the airport."

Tony nodded in agreement. His mind was filled with too many thoughts to catalog, but one thing was certain. She was getting ready to go to war, and he was right in the middle of it. He steeled himself for the coming confrontation realizing that this was probably the only way to get Davis out of their lives for good.

* * *

Jimmy Palmer sat in his quiet apartment studying for an upcoming test. He was so engrossed in his textbook that he almost missed the ringing of his cell phone. He grabbed it without checking the caller ID and said, "Hello?"

"Black Lung." The voice was almost a whisper, but Palmer realized at once who it was.

"Hey man, are you okay?"

"Come over to my apartment in about an hour, we need a medical professional to give us the once over."

"You're back in town?" Palmer almost squeaked in his excitement.

"Obviously." The retort was both dry and sarcastic. "Don't tell anyone you've spoken to us until we see you. I'll contact the Boss myself, once we get checked out."

"Are you sure you don't want Dr. Mallard instead?"

"If I wanted Ducky I would have called him. As much as I love him, he's a direct pipeline to Gibbs. We're not quite ready to deal with all of that yet. Can you handle it, Black Lung?"

Jimmy puffed up a bit. He felt this absurd swell of pride that Tony had called him first. "I'll see you in an hour."

The phone went silent and Palmer quickly stood up and began to gather necessary supplies and ready himself to leave. He smiled to himself, "Yep, just call me Special Agent Palmer."  


* * *

Tony walked around their apartment, taking an inventory and realizing that someone, probably one of his team, had been inside. Eve caught his eye and smirked.

"What do you want to bet that Gibbs sent Ziva over to break in and make sure I wasn't stashing you here?"

"Now that wouldn't surprise me in the least." He kept a close eye on her. Her bravado was beginning to fade slightly. At least neither of them had been sick on the trip back up. He felt the beginnings of a nasty headache, and knew that his concussion was going to rear its ugly head sooner rather than later.

He finally collapsed on the plush sofa and automatically pulled her down beside him. "Sit with me until Palmer gets here."

Eve settled against Tony's side and tucked her head against his chest. She took a deep breath and found herself relaxing as she inhaled his unique scent. "You smell good."

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "It's good to be home."

She was stopped from replying by the tentative knock on the door. She roused herself and pulled the Glock from the holster resting at the small of her back. Tony watched her with wide eyes and whispered, "Put that away! It's just Palmer."

"Better safe than dead. I'll put it away when I know for sure it's just Palmer."

She stood slightly to the side of the door and opened it. Palmer walked in without checking to the side and was surprised to find a gun wielding Eve standing directly behind him. "Uh, Agent Dupree…"

"Are you alone?" She pressed the barrel of the gun to his kidney and waited for an answer.

He stammered, "Uh, um, yes. I'm alone."

She took a careful glance into the hallway before shutting the door and putting her weapon away. "Sorry for the precautions. We can't be too careful."

Palmer took a relieved breath when she put the gun away and turned to Tony. "Everyone was really worried about you. I'm glad your home. Now, let me take a look at both of you…"

An hour later Jimmy was shaking his head at their stubbornness and lamented, "You both need to rest. Broken ribs and concussions are nothing to take lightly. Are you sure I can't talk you out of whatever it is you're planning to do?"

Eve simply gave him a dead-eyed stare and shook her head no. Tony put a hand on Palmer's shoulder and gave him a friendly squeeze. "Thanks for coming over. I'll call Gibbs and let him know we're back."

"There's no need to let me know anything." The voice from the doorway startled each person. Jimmy froze in place, but Tony dropped into a defensive crouch, immediately pulling his sidearm. Eve reached for her the knife sheathed in her boot and threw it at the door in a seamless motion. She pulled her gun and trained it on the figure standing at the door, her hand steady and her gaze unwavering.

When Gibbs picked the lock and quietly swung open the door he hadn't quite been expecting the reception he ended up getting when he made his appearance known.

Monitoring Palmer's cell phone had been a particularly good idea that Abby had come up with earlier that day. She knew that Tony and Jimmy had a one time had a close friendship when Gibbs was in Mexico. She never spoke of it, but she had seen the two of them in the garage with their heads together on more than one occasion. Gibbs had been shocked when the GPS beacon in Palmers phone had made its way to Tony's address, and he had been unable to keep himself from following to see if his second was finally home.

Okay, he had known since the first day DiNozzo had introduced her to the team that she was a killer, but actually looking down the barrel of a gun with her behind it was slightly scarier than he'd anticipated. He knew that DiNozzo wouldn't shoot before seeing who it was, but Eve Dupree had no such compulsion. He just hoped that common sense would prevail before she pulled that trigger. She was thinking about it, he could see it in her eyes as she stood there, waiting for his reaction before she committed.

In retrospect, it probably hadn't been a good idea to try and sneak in. He looked at the knife that was buried in his coat sleeve. He had felt the blade brush his skin before it embedded itself in the wooden door. Somehow he knew that she had put the blade exactly where she had wanted it, close enough to worry the hell out of him, but not close enough to injure. He pulled it out and held both hands up in a peaceful gesture. "Didn't mean to startle you."

Tony immediately walked over and placed himself between his lover's gun and his boss' person. He knew that Eve would not shoot if he was in her way. He greeted the visitor, "Gibbs! It's good to see you." He rapidly turned his gaze to Eve and was relieved to see her put her weapon away. "Come on in and we'll give you a sit rep."

Gibbs walked in the room and wordlessly handed her the knife hilt first. She inclined her head in thanks and replaced it into its sheath then walked into the kitchen area to start a pot of coffee.

Palmer had sunk onto the sofa in relief that no one was dead and was waiting for Agent Gibbs to read him the riot act. Gibbs looked at him not unkindly and said, "Palmer, why don't you head back home. I believe Ducky said that you had a big test coming up tomorrow."

He nodded his thanks and stammered his good-byes before quickly taking his leave.

His departure left Gibbs alone with his Second in Command and a slightly jumpy CIA Assassin. He grasped Tony's forearm in an affectionate greeting. "You look better than the last time I saw you." His comment glossed over the fact that Eve had in fact absconded with Tony as soon as Gibbs' back had been turned.

"The rest did me a world of good. I feel much better."

Gibbs turned his laser like stare on the woman sitting beside Tony. "How about you, are you feeling better?"

"I'm fine." Her clipped response didn't fool either man, Tony knew she wasn't a hundred percent, and Gibbs could guess.

Tony turned to Gibbs to ask, "Have there been any sightings of Davis at all?"

"Nothing yet. I know you've got a plan. Where's your head at, DiNozzo?"

"We're going to very publicly step back into our lives. He wants us dead and won't be able to resist the opportunity. Once he comes after us again, we'll get him."

"Or he'll get you." Gibbs couldn't resist pointing out the flaw in this plan.

"I didn't say it was a perfect plan, but it's workable."

"What do you think about this idea?" Gibbs hoped to prevail on her protective nature.

She disappointed him when she snapped, "I hope that bastard brings it on. It's time we quit playing by his rules and made him play by ours."

Gibbs finally said, "Tony, if you do this you wear a vest at _ALL_ times. I can't make Agent Dupree wear one, but I want you in one. The first time you deviate from that condition then don't bother coming back to work."

"Agreed. Eve?"

She shrugged her shoulders then said, "Wear one, it won't do any good if he takes a head shot, but if it makes Gibbs feel better…" Her voice trailed off, and she stood and left the room.

Gibbs indicated the woman who had just left. "What's with her?"

Tony sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, I haven't seen her like this since Colombia. Gibbs, she's ready to go to war. I think this has hit her hard because Davis was one of her own. She'll be okay; she's just a bit touchy right now."

"How are you really doing? Don't tell me 'fine' because I saw you in the hospital and I know you aren't fine."

My head hurts like hell and I've got several broken ribs. I'm as fine as I'm going to be until this asshole is arrested or dead. How are things at the office?"

"Quiet. Vance took us off rotation until your whereabouts were discovered. "

Tony gave a small smile. "It's really good to see you, Boss."

"You too, Tony, you too."

* * *

The next morning dawned overcast with snow falling. Tony and Eve woke early and readied themselves for the day ahead. Tony put on his vest under a sweater and shook his head when Eve refused one. "I can't move easily in one of those."

"I wish you'd wear one."

"It's not SOP in my line of work." They left the apartment, her bag bulging with supplies.

They drove towards NCIS in Tony's Mustang, and he noticed as soon as the late model sedan started following them. It was two cars back and never deviated from that distance.

"I see it." Was his only comment when she began to point it out. "What's the plan?"

She pulled a gun from her bag and chambered a round. "Let's see just how much he really wants us. Take the long way to work and you'd better call Gibbs and let him know we have a tail so one of them can pick him up."

He nodded and settled in to his seat ready to make the most of his defensive driving skills. He had the phone to his ear and had just made contact with Gibbs when a second car fell in behind them.

Tony inhaled deeply when he saw the addition and said, "Ah, Boss, you might want to get over here ASAP. We've definitely got a situation developing here."

Gibbs swore violently and replied, "We're on our way. Hold 'em off as long as possible before you make any contact. I want them alive. Make sure she knows that. We want them alive."

Tony glanced at Eve to see if she had overheard Gibbs' overly loud comment and was rewarded by a predatory smile.

He grimaced and had only one thought racing through his mind. "What the hell have I gotten myself into this time?"


	5. Never Good

I don't own NCIS or any of the characters on the show. I do own the ones that I've created. Things seem to be going from bad to worse for these two. Ah, I just can't seem to help myself. I have to give credit to Michael Westen and his _Burn Notice_ crew for the ricocheting bullets gag. I loved that, and couldn't resist using it. Hehehe. Thanks again for all of the positive reviews and your comments. I hope you enjoy the next chapter in the story. Let me hear from you, good or bad...

Never Good

_Bad is never good until worse happens. – Danish Proverb_

_

* * *

_Tony kept one eye on the vehicles looming in his rear view mirror. He felt the tension rising up his spine to settle in the back of his head as he tried his best to keep his car on the increasingly slippery road. The weather was continuing to deteriorate, and sleet had begun to fall making the snow that much more treacherous. He took a deep breath and gripped the wheel tighter; he was fairly certain that he and Eve could handle the idiots trailing them, but Gibbs was right that they needed them alive to interrogate. She wanted them all dead; he could see it in her eyes, the one place she could never hide anything from him.

"These guys aren't pros." Her voice was cool and collected as she spoke. It was the first thing she had said since they had spoken to Gibbs.

"Why do you say that?"

"They're too obvious about what they're doing. They're making no effort to stay hidden. You won't see a professional until they have you right where they want you. Gibbs should have no trouble at all stopping these idiots." She gave Tony a speculative look that had him almost groaning.

"What is going through that mind of yours?"

"You wanna have some fun with these guys?"

"What do you have in mind?" Now he was curious

"Slow down." She gave him a mischievous smile as she spoke which set his teeth on edge.

"What! Evie, are you crazy?"

She picked up the gun from her lap and opened the window. "Seriously, slow down, when they get close I'm going to use to _this_ to give them a heart attack." She motioned to the 357 Magnum in her hand.

Tony knew that she was perfectly serious, and also knew that her aim was steady enough to do it. "How are you doing to do that?"

"I'm going to make the bullets ricochet off the pavement into the floorboard of the car. I might even be able to crack the radiator if I'm lucky enough with a shot. You know that at 357 will do it, _if_ I can make the shot."

Tony began to enjoy the idea of scaring the hell out of their pursuers until the cavalry arrived, so he slowed the Mustang down just enough to ensure that the two cars ended up right behind him without the other drivers even realizing exactly what he was doing. Eve grinned in appreciation of his driving skills.

"These idiots didn't even realize what you're up to; they're clueless. They fell right in line behind us. Now, watch this…"

He watched her from the corner of his eye as she leaned out the window and carefully aimed the powerful handgun and pulled the trigger. The loud _BOOM _reverberated through the car, and, as he watched through the rear view mirror, he could see the first car begin to swerve as the driver panicked. She pulled the trigger twice more and the second car lost control and ran headlong into a tree lining the roadside.

The first car had regained control and was directly behind them, so Tony sped up enough to give her room to aim and laughed as she pulled the trigger three more times. The second car finally lost control and flipped over as she blew out the right front tire.

Tony stopped his Mustang with a skid and jumped out with his Sig drawn and Eve directly behind him with her own firearm up. He quickly checked the men in the second car. They were both unconscious and unable to go anywhere.

They cautiously approached the second car. It was still, and there was no movement from within. Tony finally yelled, "NCIS. Throw out your weapons and put your hands where I can see them!"

A pistol was thrown from each front window and the two men put their hands out the windows. Tony looked at Eve with a rueful expression on his face as he said, "I only have one set of handcuffs."

"Don't worry; I've got a set here in my bag. You never know when you might need handcuffs."

When Gibbs and Ziva pulled up a couple of minutes later they found Tony and Eve standing guard over two conscious men and two unconscious ones. The two cars were totaled, and Gibbs called for wreckers to take both to the NCIS evidence garage for Abby to process. Once that was done he turned and looked at the four suspects that were cuffed and waiting for rescue to come and assess their various injuries.

He turned a laser like glare to where Tony stood with his arm around Agent Dupree. She was leaning on his shoulder and was watching the proceedings with interest. Tony looked tired, the lines around his eyes were more pronounced, and, if he hadn't had them covered with sunglasses, Gibbs knew that Tony's eyes would be rimmed with red and bloodshot. Fatigue seemed to have become a perpetual state of affairs with him ever since he'd gotten involved with her.

Gibbs didn't begrudge Tony a secure relationship. He knew more than anyone else that DiNozzo needed someone to love him without question. From everything he had observed he was certain that Eve Dupree felt something for Tony that went deeper than just simple physical attraction. He didn't know what it was since he had never heard her tell Tony that she loved him, so he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Regardless, the whole debate was moot since Tony had made it clear in no uncertain terms that she was in his life to stay as long as she would.

Gibbs did know that Tony loved Eve; he'd never heard him say the words to her, but he knew. There was really no other word for it, except maybe obsession, since he had done such a spectacular job of falling apart when she had disappeared in Afghanistan. Love like that was scary and it made you vulnerable and mortal. He should know he'd gone through worse when Shannon and Kelly had died. It was something that Gibbs both craved to have but was terrified of. For the life of him, he couldn't understand how Tony, a man who had run from all commitment, would allow someone that close to his once broken heart.

As he stood there ruminating on his Senior Field Agent and the woman beside him he felt her eyes slide over him like a blast of cold air. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he turned his arctic blue gaze to meet her eyes fully. She was studying him with absolutely no expression on either her face or in her eyes. He knew that she was assessing him yet again, probably comparing him to Tony (physically he was never going to win that comparison, he knew), and he fought the urge to pull in his stomach and stand up even taller.

He finally satisfied himself with snapping, "I thought I said I wanted all of these men in one piece!"

Tony looked at Gibbs with a wide-eyed expression that held no guile and sputtered, "Wha… come _on,_ Boss! They were after us…"

"DiNozzo!"

"Shutting up now, Boss." Tony snapped his mouth shut and contented himself with thinking the things Gibbs wouldn't let him say in response.

Gibbs centered his ire on the person to whom it was intended and said in a hard tone, "Well…" He drew out the word, making it a challenge.

He felt his skin crawl when she just stared back and smiled in that icy way of hers and said, "They're alive aren't they?"

* * *

Standing in the observation room, Tony decided that he knew exactly how a ping pong ball felt. He knew that because he often felt bounced between Eve and Gibbs as they faced off in yet another confrontation. He didn't understand why Gibbs was so confrontational with Eve. Normally he didn't act this way no matter how long Tony had been dating a woman. It was odd, but Tony appreciated the protective vibe that Gibbs was sending out. It was comforting but still a pain in the ass.

He understood why she felt the need to stand up to Gibbs; her training had ingrained in her a need to never show weakness. Gibbs was an alpha male, and she understood that trait. There was no way in hell that she would ever show anything but strength in front of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He grimaced as he recalled how she constantly baited the boss by calling him by his first name. Eve did love to play with fire. He just hoped she wouldn't end up getting burned.

Tony wasn't naive, but he did hope that eventually Gibbs and Eve would quit declaring war on each other every time they were in a room together. It gave him ulcers to imagine that his surrogate father and the woman he loved would never accept the other's place in his life. He sighed and prayed that they would eventually find some common ground.

His thoughts turned to Eve again and he gave a chuckle as he remembered the expression on her face when he had left her with Abby that morning. He had needed to help Gibbs interrogate the suspects and she wasn't really interested in why they were being followed; actually, she just wanted to know where Davis was so she could kill him. With that in mind he'd thought it best that she wasn't around when they interrogated the men. He would fill her in on the pertinent information later.

Their relationship worked because they had accepted the bad as well as the good in each other. She was able to let down her guard and be vulnerable around him just as he was with her. He had been able to show her sides of his personality that no one, not even Gibbs, knew about. She always made him feel like he was the most important person in the world, and it was a feeling he had quickly grown used to and now needed like an addict needed drugs.

He grinned to himself as he thought about the turns his life had taken in the past year. Actually life was pretty good once you got past the whole 'escaped felon wanting him and his lover dead' thing. He had a great job he loved, and he had a woman that made him feel complete for the first time in his life. He had no need to live a lie; there wasn't much that he could tell her that would shock since she had probably done worse.

Tony made a mental note to ask Ducky to check both of them over. He trusted Palmer, but he knew that he still wasn't a hundred percent, and he had heard Eve vomiting both last night and again today before they left for work. He was worried that she had made her condition worse by waiting on him hand and foot for three days. He had her, and he'd be damned if he was going to let anything happen to her.

Gibbs walked in the room and gave Tony a gentle slap to the back of his head to regain his attention and then said, "You're with me, DiNozzo."

He gave a cheerful smile and said, "On your six, Boss!" Tony turned smartly and followed Gibbs into the interrogation room to begin what promised to be a long process.

* * *

Eve liked Abby; she liked her a lot. She liked her cheerful attitude towards life and the fact that she never seemed to run out of hugs that she bestowed on those she felt needed them. She liked the loud pounding of her music and the fact that Abby had accepted her just because Tony did. Eve appreciated the sentiment, and the Goth scientist had become the closest thing she had to a girl friend. She enjoyed spending time in the lab when Tony was working elsewhere. The two women had been gossiping while Abby ran trace evidence collected from the two cars when Eve felt her stomach clinch with yet another round of nausea. She fought the urge to run to the restroom and instead put her head down on the counter and concentrated on taking deep breaths.

It only took Abby a couple of minutes to notice her friend had become distracted and had put her head down. "Hey, are you okay?"

Eve took a deep breath and tried to smile before replying. "I've been really nauseous since the explosion, and today I've got a killer headache to go with it. I think it must just be aftereffects of a concussion."

"What did the hospital say about it?"

Eve looked at Abby guiltily and shifted her eyes before finally replying, "I never got checked out for a possible concussion. My only priority was to get Tony out of that building before Davis could track us there."

"Has Ducky had a look at you?"

"No. I don't want Tony to worry; he's got enough on his plate. Please don't mention it to him, Abbs. He's got a job to do, and so do I. Neither of us will be effective if he's worrying about me."

Abby didn't like making blanket promises, so she finally said, "I won't tell Tony _IF_ you come with me and let Ducky check you out. Let's just be sure that everything is okay."

Eve tried to glare but failed miserably, "That's blackmail, Abby."

The effervescent Goth gave a cheerful shake of her head, her pigtails bouncing, and smiled at her friend, "Whatever it takes. Tony'll go postal if anything happens to you."

Eve finally decided that she had no choice but to acquiesce to Abby's request, no she couldn't call it a request, her demands, and so she gave a careful nod. "You win."

"I know." Abby was supremely confident in herself and didn't mind showing it. "I always win."

The two women made their way to Ducky's domain and entered quietly. Ducky was sitting at his desk finishing the paperwork from his last post. He looked up at the pair and gave a bright smile. "What brings two such lovely ladies to autopsy this morning?"

Abby stepped in to take control of the situation. "Hey Duckman, could you give Eve a once over? She's been throwing up and having headaches since the explosion the other day."

Ducky was immediately concerned and reached for his medical bag. He put a sheet on the table and motioned for Eve to climb up. "Sit here, my dear and let me have a look."

Eve submitted herself to the exam. Answering only what she was asked and volunteering nothing. She had almost tuned Ducky out completely when he asked her a question that caught her attention immediately.

"Wha… what did you just ask me?"

Ducky gave a gentle smile and repeated his question "Is there any chance you could be pregnant?"

Eve shook her head. "No, no of course not. We've always been careful…" Her voice trailed off then she exclaimed "_Fuck_!"

Abby was immediately intrigued by the look on her friend's face and asked, "What?"

Eve looked at Ducky with a panicked expression in her eyes and whispered, "We've always been careful except for the night I came home from Afghanistan." She paused for a second swallowing hard, and then continued, "I'd been gone so long I wasn't on the pill anymore, and well, I don't think we used anything else. I don't really remember."

"Ahhh…" Ducky got a speculative look on his face then reached for his tubes to draw blood. "Let me get a blood sample, and we'll put this question to rest soon enough."

Eve submitted her arm to the doctor and sat there stunned whist he and Abby started the test running. Panic was beginning to take over, and she decided that she had to get out of the building one way or another. Luckily Abby walked back into the room and grabbed her arm.

"Come on. Let's go get a Caf-Pow and I don't know, doughnuts or something. You look like you could use it."

Eve nodded her emerald green eyes bright in stark comparison to her pale face. How could she have gotten so careless? There was no way in hell she was going to be responsible for trapping Tony. They had never even discussed getting married much less having any children. She liked things the way they were. They were together because they wanted to be not because of any obligation. _Christ!_ She gave herself a mental shake. Who the hell was she kidding? Was she maternal? This was a disaster in the making!

Abby pulled her friend along behind in her wake as they passed through the bullpen. She stopped at Gibbs desk to leave a note as to their whereabouts then exited the building headed for the nearest place that stocked Caf-Pow. Abby was too excited by the thought of a potential niece or nephew to notice the pair of men who fell in behind them as soon as they made it to the street. She bounced along happily, making plans.

Eve was too distracted by her thoughts to notice the pair who began following her and Abby. She couldn't even form a coherent thought as she followed Abby towards the store. They stopped at the crosswalk waiting for the walk signal when she was suddenly grabbed from behind. She immediately began to struggle, but was stopped in her tracks by a hard right to her jaw. She fell only to be caught by her attacker. Abby saw her fall, but was quickly overpowered by the attacker's partner who quickly injected her with a fast acting sedative. The men quickly got the two women off the street and into a nearby van. A couple of minutes later they had disappeared.

* * *

Gibbs, Tony, Ziva and McGee finally made their way back to the bullpen after several fruitless hours in the interrogation rooms. The four knew nothing about Davis' operation. He had hired them for surveillance only and had told them as little as he could get away with. Gibbs was disgusted about the wasted time. He sat down at his desk intending to check messages and then make a coffee run. He found Abby's note and yelled the information to DiNozzo so he wouldn't start looking for Eve and would settle down into his paperwork.

Gibbs stood intending to grab a coffee when his phone rang. He snapped it open with a crisp motion. "Gibbs."

There was silence on the other end of the line until a tremulous voice finally spoke. "Gibbs."

The former marine felt a cold knife stab him in the gut when he recognized the voice. "Abby. What's wrong?"

Her voice disappeared and another one took over. This one deep and foreboding, "Hello Special Agent Gibbs. I just wanted you to know that I have your lovely forensic scientist and DiNozzo's whore. If you want to see Ms. Scuito alive you had better follow my instructions to the letter. I'll call back with details."

Gibbs gripped the phone and almost screamed into the receiver _"DAVIS"_

The voice laughed, low and dirty and responded, "Ta Ta!"

The line went dead leaving nothing but dead air for him to rail against.


	6. Sunset

Okay, don't own them, never have… never will. Poor Abby, she's stuck right in the middle of this mess. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm giving fair warning. This chapter is a bit violent and alludes to some disturbing things. If that will bother you, please don't continue. If that seems to be your cup of tea, then please travel forth and read the next chapter in our journey.

Sunset

_Don't lose hope. When the sun goes down, the stars come out. -- Unknown_

* * *

The room was dark, dank, and cold and she could find no comfortable place to sit without getting chilled. She had been in her fair share of scary places, several graveyards in fact, hell she slept in a coffin, but Abby was scared. She had been sitting alone in this dark room for what had felt like an eternity, and she didn't know how much more she could stand. No one had spoken to her since they had held the phone to her mouth so she could speak to Gibbs. She hadn't seen Eve since then either. The men had dragged her out, blindfolded with her hands tied tightly together. Though she was alone and scared, Abby was working hard at holding herself together.

When she had awakened in the room she had crawled over to Eve to make sure that she was okay, and had found the spy groggy but awake. Eve had looked at her and had whispered in an urgent voice, _"Abby, I don't care what they do or what you hear. Do not let them see you cry. Do not show them any weakness. I know these guys, they're sharks and you __**do not**__ want them to see blood in the water. They're going to use you to get Tony and Gibbs to do something. I'm not sure what. They don't want you, so be as cooperative as you can so they don't hurt you. Don't think about anything but surviving. Now, I need you to do something for me."_

"_What?"_

"_Memorize as much about them and this place as you can and when they open that door you walk out of here without a backward glance. Don't think about me or anything else except getting back to NCIS. Can you do that?"_

"_What's going to happen to you?"_

_Eve had averted her eyes, she had hoped that Abby wouldn't ask that particular question. She was silent for the longest time before she finally responded. "You don't want to know. I'm a spy, I've been expecting this moment for my entire career. It happens to all of us…eventually. I'm just surprised it took this long."_

A few minutes after that their captors had walked into the room and blindfolded Eve then drug her out finally returning a few minutes later with a cell phone to call Gibbs. Mindful of Eve's advice and not liking what she had seen in the other man's eyes, Abby had cooperated when the call had been placed. Once the phone had been disconnected, Davis had given Abby a cold stare and had walked from the room without a backwards glance. After the door slammed shut she had curled into a knot and started to pray for someone to find them.

* * *

Jeff Davis enjoyed his work. He had been one of the best interrogators the Company had ever trained, and he had loved his job. Right now he was feeling a bit of frustration as he attempted to question his captive. She was stubborn, no doubt about it. "Agent Dupree, this would go much faster if you'd just tell me where Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. is hiding. There's no need to you to experience pain. Why fight?" Davis circled the chair he'd tied his captive to and tested the point of his knife against his thumb. It sliced through the skin easily, just as he had expected. Now, where could he cut this time to cause the most pain? Hmmm, he looked at the woman tied in front of him and sighed. She was tougher than he'd imagined; John had taught her well. He decided to stop, take some video of her condition and send it to NCIS for Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo to see. It would give them a bit of motivation to do what he wanted. He turned to leave to grab his camera and was stopped by a raspy voice behind him.

"What do you want with Tony's father?" She could barely speak, her throat was covered in fingerprint shaped bruises and she'd had no water in 24 hours.

Davis turned and looked at the woman sitting before him. Her face, except for the bruise on her jaw, was unmarked; he had told his men explicitly to not touch her face. They had reserved the worst of their attentions to the rest of her body. He smiled, remembering the morning's "session" with a flush of pleasure. He had thoroughly enjoyed it, but he was certain she hadn't. He decided to humor her with an answer. "He has something of mine. I want my thirty million dollars. You know exactly what I mean. I want the money that you and Agent DiNozzo cost me. It's mine, and I will have it."

Eve had been gasping for air earlier after a vigorous beating that had been concentrated on her chest and stomach. She coughed and could taste the metallic flavor of blood as it exploded on her tongue; she narrowed her eyes and thought for a second. He was after money. She shouldn't be surprised; he had betrayed his country for it. "What makes you think that Tony's father is going to give you anything for me?"

"Not for you, for him. We're going to exchange the lovely Ms. Scuito for him, and his father will pay for his safety."

"What have you done with Abby?"

"Now, now, she's unharmed. It's no fun to play with someone who can't take it. She'd be no challenge at all. She's still sitting in the room we left her in."

Eve closed her eyes wearily and sighed. "Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. is not going to pay thirty million dollars for a son he has only spoken to a handful of times in the last 20 years or so. I don't know whose crack pipe you've been smoking, but it's just not going to happen."

Davis' fist cocked back and delivered a hard punch to her cheek. She felt the pain explode from her jaw all the way up to the roots of her hair. She hissed in pain as she felt her skin split and blood begin to pour from the wound.

"Shut your mouth, bitch! If you say another word then I'm going to make you regret it."

Baiting him was a really bad idea, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. Eve chuckled darkly, the pain beginning to set in and scream inside her head like white noise. "Make up your mind. First you want me to talk; now you're threatening me to keep my mouth closed. What, do you have multiple personalities in there?"

Davis turned red with rage and nodded to his subordinate. The large man cut Eve's bonds and dragged her to the back room and tossed her on the floor. Davis followed and entered the room. He gave her a smug smile and said in a silky tone, "I told you I'd make you regret it…" He slowly closed the door behind him with a click.

* * *

Abby looked up fearfully as the door to her cell opened up and two men dragged a limp body inside. She tried not to shake as they came close to her to leave their burden. They gave her nary a glance when they dropped the body and left the room as quietly as they had come.

Abby felt tears rise into her light green eyes, and she pushed them back stubbornly. She quickly assessed Eve's injuries as best she could in the dim light. She looked okay…from the neck up. She had been punched in the face a few times, but that wasn't too bad. It was from the neck down that worried her. She looked as though someone had been strangling her, stopping, then starting over again. She had cuts on her torso and bruises everywhere. "Eve, are you awake?"

Her voice was almost painful to hear when she finally spoke. "Abby?"

"Uh Huh, I'm here."

Eve coughed and curled on her side before she spoke again. "Listen to me. I overheard him a few minutes ago. He's going to come in here with a video camera and take some footage to send to Gibbs. Can you sign quickly enough to get a message to them"

Abby gave her first smile since this whole ordeal had started. "Yeah. What should I tell him?"

"We're down by the waterfront in an abandoned warehouse. Tell them to check my bag. Tony'll know which one. There's something in there that will help them get us out of here. Can you tell them all that?"

"I think so. I'll try anyway."

Eve began to cough again, bringing up copious amounts of blood as she choked and struggled to breathe. "Those last few kicks to the ribs…" She paused to cough again then finally just put her head on the damp floor in defeat. She glanced at Abby. The other woman was working hard to keep her fear under control, and Eve felt a surge of pride in her friend. It took a special kind of person to keep it together whilst sitting in a dark room alone. "You've done great Abby. Let's…try…and…get a clue to your team so they can get you out."

"What about you? Gibbs'll never leave anyone behind! He's gonna find us both. He's _Gibbs_ after all!" The faith in her voice was like a balm to Eve's soul, but she was also a realist.

"When they finish taking the video he's going to drag me out for more fun and games. Davis will kill me before anyone gets here. Just promise me you'll take care of Tony for me. Tell him that I love him."

Abby shook her head violently. "_NO!_ You tell him yourself when Gibbs gets us both out of here. You wouldn't let me give up or be scared, so I'm not cutting you any slack! You will get out of here. _Do you hear me, Agent Dupree?"_

Eve chuckled and squeezed Abby's hand in hers. "Yes Ma'am." She fell silent again, racking her brain, trying desperately to formulate any kind of advantage. "If I can get one of them to drop a cell phone, could they find us?"

Abby nodded her head vigorously. "Definitely. McGee could use the GPS to find us once we call them, but how…" She stopped when she heard voices outside the door and grasped Eve's hand tighter.

The two women clung to each other for comfort when the door opened again to admit Davis and two of his associates. He pointed at both women and snapped, "Stand them up! It's magic time."

Abby let herself be stood up, keeping to her promise not to fight back. The man was quite gentle and didn't even squeeze her arm. He helped her balance and patted her back in a slightly embarrassed way. She gave him a tremulous smile and watched as the other man grabbed Eve by one of her arms and roughly pulled her up.

She had been waiting for this moment. They had made a fatal error by not tying her hands and ankles after that last "session", and she planned on using her last bit of her reserves to make them pay for it. She knew they intended to kill her anyway and she might as well go out fighting. As soon as she was standing she shifted her weight to pull her guard off balance and caught him with a quick knee to his solar plexus. He doubled over, gasping for air which gave her enough time to follow up with several more kicks, using her shin bone as a weapon. Davis grabbed her from behind dropping his camera in the fray; the pair fell to the ground struggling and fighting for leverage. He finally subdued her with a knife pressed against her throat.

"Don't make me slit your throat right here in front of your friend."

She instantly stilled and watched Abby with wide eyes.

Davis looked at his broken camera with disgust and stood up. "Let's go, we need another camera!" He gave a few vicious kicks to her ribs just for spite and left the room followed by one guard who was still gasping for air, and the other who had clearly become enamored of Abby. He gave her a smile as he released her and left.

Abby immediately dropped to her knees and asked, "Did you get one?"

"Eve gave a smile that was more like a pain filled grimace and pulled her hand from behind her back. "Yeah. Davis had your cell phone in his pocket for some reason. He probably wanted to use it to taunt Gibbs. That wasn't a smart move. Call Gibbs." The pain threatened to overwhelm her, and she was fighting nausea from the last few kicks. Finally she gave in and rolled over on her side, and started to vomit, all the while letting the tears flow.

Abby quickly dialed, her hands shaking with adrenaline. He had to answer… he just had too. Finally, she heard, "Gibbs."

* * *

When his phone began to ring, Gibbs answered it without checking the caller ID. He knew that the bastard that had Abby would call soon enough with more taunts. His voice was rough from caffeine and no sleep when he said, "Gibbs."

Abby almost cried in relief when she heard his voice on the other end of the line. "GibbsGIbbsGibbs, trace this call NOW!"

He snapped his fingers at McGee. "McGee, trace the number calling my cell phone NOW!" He gripped the phone tightly and asked, "Abbs, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Eve's hurt, but I'm okay; they didn't' lay a hand on me at all. Hurry up. They're coming back soon. I'm going to have to go and hide this phone so they can't find it."

"We're coming for you, Abby."

She interrupted to say, "We're on the waterfront in a warehouse, and Eve says for Tony to check her bag. She has something in there to help us escape. He should know what I'm talking about."

"Okay…"

"Gotta go, Gibbs. They're coming. HURRY, please please hurry!"

* * *

The phone went dead in his hand and he fought the urge to throw it against the wall. He looked at McGee who was busily typing.

"The phone is still on Boss. I'm tracing the GPS now and the phone signal is located in the old wharf area."

"DiNozzo!"

"Yeah Boss?"

"Get Eve's bag. Abby said that she had something in there to help us."

Tony looked blankly at Gibbs for a second and then gave his first smile in a day. He grabbed the bag from under his desk and pulled out two blocks of C4 explosive. "Can we use this?"

Ziva walked over and looked at the items with interest. She gave a small smirk and said, "Gibbs, I believe I can fashion a _surprise _for our friends that should distract them enough to allow us the upper hand."

Gibbs nodded in satisfaction. His team was worried and nervous, but they were still thinking. "Get on it. I'm going to update the director. Be ready to leave in five minutes!"

Ziva immediately took control of the C4 and began to work, completely ignoring both Tony and McGee. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she rapidly designed what she had in mind.

Tony watched her, fascinated by what she was doing. He finally stirred himself to interrupt, "Do they train all of you crazy spies to play with explosives?"

Ziva glanced up. She could see the concern he was hiding behind his light tone. "How many times have you seen me disarm an explosive device?"

"I don't know, several?"

"Well, then would it not stand to reason that I can build one as well as disarm it?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess…" His observation was interrupted by Gibbs storming back in the room.

"Grab your gear! Abby's waiting!"

* * *

Abby and Eve sat huddled together each offering the other as much comfort as they could. They had done all they could, and now it was up to Tony and Gibbs. All they could do was wait and hope. The room was silent, the darkness interrupted only by a dripping coming from the far corner. The door was thrown open and a monster stormed into the room, his face a mask of rage.

Davis was furious that these two had ruined his plans and released his frustration with a scream. _"Where's the goddamn cell phone!"_

* * *

Gibbs quickly pulled the car up a slight distance away from the warehouse indicated by the GPS signal. He looked at everyone. "Vests on everyone, take no chances. If you get a shot, take this bastard out. Nobody takes our people and gets away with it. Ziva, what have you got?"

She held up two small devices she had made. "They are crude, but I believe that they will do the trick."

Gibbs nodded, "Good work, go plant them where you think they'll do the most good. McGee, go with Ziva. You take the back. Tony, you're with me."

"On your six, Boss!"

"Ziva you blow those on my mark, got it?"

"I've got it."

The quartet slowly approached the warehouse and divided into pairs. Ziva and McGee quickly planted her explosives at a point outside the front of the old building and one outside the back as well. With weapons drawn they quickly reconnoitered the area around the building, finding no threats they approached the main door. Gibbs, with Tony following close behind, peered in the dirty broken windows. He signaled for Tony to stop then whispered into his microphone. "Three…two…one…mark."

As soon as she heard the whispered command she pressed the button on her detonator. A second later the evening air was filled with two loud explosions.


	7. Precious Things

I do not own NCIS or any of the characters on the show. I really wish I did, because then I could hang out with Gibbs and the Gang on a regular basis. I also want to give another warning. This chapter will contain violence and have allusions to some disturbing things. If you're offended, please don't continue, but if you like it then read on. Here is the next chapter in this journey…

Precious Things

_Pain pays the income of each precious thing. -- William Shakespeare _

* * *

Jeff Davis knew that his time was running out. He had entered the room raging about the lost cell phone and had ultimately found himself squeezing the neck of one of his captives. His rage at the pair was overwhelming and violent as he realized that this whole thing was over. He was never going to see his money, and unless he was very fortunate, he would be back trapped inside that cell. She had fought like a demon, but the repeated beatings had sapped most of her strength. His face felt wet and sticky, but he couldn't remember what… oh, she had clawed at his eyes in an attempt to free herself, and he tasted the salty metallic flavor of his blood as it dripped into his open mouth. She had begun to weaken, her strength slowly leaving her. He stared into the green eyes of the woman lying below him, and watched the light in hers dim as he slowly choked the life out of her body. He was prepared to end her life and grab the other one when the first explosion happened. He heard a distant yell of "FEDERAL AGENTS!" and knew that he had only minutes to make his escape. Quickly he released her throat and raced out of the room as though the hounds of hell were on his heels. He made a rapid decision to leave his associates behind to fend for themselves. It was time that they learned that there was really no honor amongst thieves.

* * *

Gibbs moved quickly into the warehouse with Tony nipping at his heels. The old warehouse consisted of a huge front room with multiple offices to the side. His gut was telling him that they needed to check all of the offices, so once they cleared the front room and rendezvoused with their other teammates the four quickly begin clearing the offices. They had already found Davis' four associates and had them in handcuffs.

Tony was slowly and methodically making his way through the building when he found what had to have been used an interrogation room. The chair was stained with blood, and the room appeared to have been rudimentary soundproofed. He got a sick feeling when he realized that the rag lying in the corner was the remains of the blouse that Eve had been wearing the previous day. The delicate white silk was shredded and stained crimson with what he only could assume was blood.

He left that room, now on a mission to find her when a dark blur went racing past him. He recognized Davis and roared, "_Oh no you fucking don't_!" He holstered his weapon and began to give chase. He passed by Gibbs and followed the old spy out onto the wharf area. He was struggling to pull oxygen into his lungs, and the blood was pounding in his head as he raced after the suspect. Tony made a final sprint and finally caught up to him just as Davis got to the water. Tony made a conscious decision to not let him escape and caught him in a flying tackle that would have made his college football coach proud.

The collision knocked the breath right out of his lungs and pushed both men off the dock and into the murky water below. Tony tightened his grip and held on like a pit bull as Davis struggled to escape. He felt an elbow jar his ribs and almost lost his grip, but he gasped for air then settled back in. He thought that he would have Davis under control and in custody but saw a flash of sliver in the other man's hand.

Tony felt a sudden sharp pain in his right thigh and realized that the bastard had stabbed him. He grabbed for the knife, and he and Davis began to jockey for position over the blade. He felt it slice his arm once more before he was able to get a good grip on Davis' arm. He locked eyes with the former spy and was shocked when the man finally spoke to him.

"Did you find your whore, DiNozzo? The last time I saw her she was pretty much dead." He sneered the insult even as he fought for an advantage against the bigger man. "I know why you keep her around. We _enjoyed _spending time with her." He gave a leering smile and was amused to watch the reaction that he had provoked.

Tony felt like someone had punched him in the stomach as he listened to the garbage coming from Davis' mouth. He tightened his grip on his captive's hand and slowly pushed the knife down until it was pointed directly at the other man's stomach.

Davis realized his mistake too late when he saw the emotion drain out of Tony's eyes and felt him squeeze until his grip became painful. He suddenly felt liquid fire enter his stomach and he lost his will to do anything accept try and breathe. He went limp and almost went under the water, the blood pouring from his wound turning the murky water almost black. Tony grabbed him and wearily pulled his bleeding body up to the bank where he dropped it like a bag of garbage.

McGee had been looking for Tony, and found him when he heard the splash. He raced to the dock just in time to see Tony drag the other man's body up to the bank. He cuffed the half conscious suspect and called for an ambulance.

Tony left the water and hurriedly limped back towards the warehouse, blood streaming from his various stab wounds. His only thought was to find her.

* * *

Gibbs watched Tony race after Davis and began a frantic search for Abby and Eve. He finally heard Abby calling her name and burst through the door in the office furthest from the main room. He raced over and stood over the pair, shock making him momentarily speechless as he took in the scene before him. Abby showed no signs of moving from her side, so he grabbed the forensic tech and pulled her aside and turned to the other woman lying motionless on the floor. She was fighting for air, and her struggle to breathe through the swollen membranes in her throat was making the problem worse. Gibbs knew if he didn't calm her down so she could get some air in she'd suffocate before they could get her to a hospital.

Mindful of her myriad injuries, He propped her up against his chest and began speaking to her in a soothing, calm voice, urging her to breathe slowly and just take in air. He gently brushed her hair back from her face and continued to murmur to her. She finally settled enough to quit fighting and had managed one deep breath just as Tony limped into the room.

He dropped to his knees beside her and his normally tan complexion immediately went pale once he saw the damage to her throat.

"_Jesus Christ! _What the hell did he do to you?"

Gibbs immediately turned to Tony and barked, "Sit rep!" As he waited to Tony to report he continued coaxing Eve to keep breathing slow and steady.

Tony inhaled deeply and centered himself before beginning. "McGee called for an ambulance and called Fornell and his boys to pick up the others." He saw Gibbs' unspoken question and said, "Ziva's watching them until reinforcements arrive."

Gibbs noticed for the first time that Tony was soaking wet and bleeding. "You need a band aid? Where's Davis?"

Tony kept his gaze locked with Eve's as he reached out to gently stroke her face. "Dead I hope. He came at me with a knife, and ended up getting stabbed by it."

"Good." Gibbs nodded his head, satisfied.

Abby had been silent since Gibbs arrival. The shock began to hit her, and she began to shake and finally started to cry softly.

Tony jerked his head in her direction and immediately pulled her into his embrace. "Aww, Abbs, please don't cry. It's gonna be alright; I promise."

Her shoulders were heaving from her sobbing, and tears were running down her cheeks in small rivers. "Tony, she saved me from them. I don't know what they did to her, but it was bad."

Abby ultimately threw her arms around his neck and he squeezed her tight, offering her as much comfort as he could while they waited for the paramedics to arrive.

* * *

The ride to the hospital was a blur for Tony. He had sat beside her in the bus and held her hand as they flew through the streets towards Bethesda. He asked the driver to make sure that Dr. Pitt would be in the Emergency Room when they arrived. He was exhausted, and his various wounds were throbbing in response to his exertions.

Once they arrived at the hospital, he was quickly separated from Eve when Brad whisked him into a curtained area for a thorough check up. He submitted to the examination, in an effort to return to her side as soon as possible. He was patient during the cleaning and suturing of his wounds and the chest x-rays that the doctor's insisted on.

He and Brad were discussing whether or not he needed antibiotics when another doctor pushed into the small curtained area. "I need to speak to Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."

Tony looked up and gave a weary smile. "That's me, what's up?"

"Evangeline Dupree has you listed as her next of kin on her records. We need to discuss her diagnosis and treatment."

Tony nodded his head and said in a serious tone, "Shoot."

"Agent DiNozzo, it's not good. Someone beat that woman to within an inch or her life. She's very lucky to be alive. She was manually strangled on several different occasions if her bruises are to be believed. She's lucky her hyoid bone wasn't fractured in this last episode. She does have a fractured cheekbone, four fractured ribs and her kidneys are bruised. We're watching for internal bleeding. Her spleen is a concern; we may have to remove it. Her sternum is bruised, her torso has several knife wounds, one pretty severe, and…"

Tony's face drained of color as he listened to the doctor list her injuries. "What."

"We think she may have been sexually assaulted. She won't tell us and she refuses to let us do a kit. Would you come and speak to her and convince her it's in her best interests?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to control the emotions that were rising up inside his chest. He had hoped that Davis' taunts had been the words of a desperate man; they appeared to have been more. He clinched his fists and hoped that he had managed to kill Davis with that knife. He took a deep breath knowing that irrational anger wasn't going to help her at all. "I'll try. I don't know if she'll do it. She knows her own mind and won't be pushed."

The doctor looked relieved. He still hadn't finished the list of injuries, but he thought that the last revelation could wait since it would add just insult to injury. "That's all we ask. Please just try."

Tony followed the doctor to Eve's cubicle. He stood outside out of sight and peered in at her. She was lying on the bed with the sheet pulled up to her chest. She had a nasal cannula to ensure that she was getting enough air, and was attached to several other monitors that were keeping track of her oxygen stats and her heart rate. Her eyes were dry and hollow as she stared at the ceiling. Ducky was sitting by her side, and he could hear the gentle Scotsman speaking in a soothing voice.

"What did they do to you, my dear? I know it was bad, I can see it in your eyes. Can you tell me anything?"

She refused to meet his eyes and finally tried to whisper, "What…did…test…?"

"It was positive." He watched her closely, and saw no real reaction. "Did you tell Tony?"

Eve finally looked at Ducky, her gaze empty as she whispered, "No…need...only…hurt…him."

The gentle Scotsman finally understood what she was saying. "I'm so sorry, Eve."

Tony felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. Were they talking about…? He finally decided to slide into the cubicle.

Tony pulled the curtain back and entered the cubicle. Her eyes immediately brightened when he sat on the stool that Ducky quickly vacated. "Hey, you." He gently grazed her uninjured cheek with his knuckles and then leaned over to gently caress her brow with his lips. "I love you."

Eve grasped his hand and held it to her lips. "I…love…too."

"Eve, the doctors don't want you using your voice; please refrain." Ducky stood at the foot of the bed and watched the pair reunite. His heart was heavy for the ordeal that they were still to endure.

Tony laced their fingers together and leaned over, speaking softly to her. "Evie, the doctors want to do a rape kit. Will you let them do the exam?"

She averted her gaze from his and inhaled sharply. She finally whispered, "Tony…I'm…"

He interrupted her, his tone fierce as he protested, "Don't you even think about apologizing to me. What ever happened in that room was NOT your fault. Please just let the doctor do the exam." He paused and then pulled out the big gun, "…for me."

She narrowed her eyes and rubbed her face with her free hand before she would look at him again. Leave it to Tony to manipulate her that way. She knew what had and hadn't happened in that room. There was no need for him to know any of it. She wanted to refuse his request; after all, this was something she had been trained to deal with, she had just never imagined that it would happen to her when she was stateside. Eve knew Tony was waiting for an answer, but so far she had none for him. She turned her head to look at him, his green eyes were filled with concern and she cursed the doctors for going to him with this. There was no way in hell any doctor here was going to examine her. She noticed for the first time that he was wearing clothes that were damp and bloodstained. She became immediately concerned.

"What…happened…to…you." Her throat felt like a million wasps were stinging her every time she tried to speak.

"I took a swim with Davis, stabbed him too."

Her eyes became fierce when she asked, "Dead?"

"I don't know. I hope so."

"Good." She shifted slightly and moaned as her injuries reasserted themselves.

A nurse walked in the cubicle with a several syringes and shooed Tony right back out of the space while she worked. "Out. I need to check my patient. You can come back in once I'm done."

Tony tried to argue, but decided it would be better to let the nurse work alone. He paced in the hallway silently, stopping only when Gibbs caught up to him.

Gibbs saw Tony pacing from all the way down the hall. His Senior Field Agent was agitated if his pacing was any indication. He walked over and handed him a bag before sitting down on a vacant chair.

Tony looked at the bag. "What's this?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Dry clothes. I thought you might want to shower and change. I expect Brad will let you use the facilities here."

"Thanks, Boss." Tony continued to pace, emotions continuing to dance over his face. "Do you know what they did to her?"

Gibbs heard the anguish in his voice. "I can guess." He took a sip out of his ever present coffee cup and sighed.

Ducky joined both men and was quickly accosted by DiNozzo. "Ducky I want a straight answer. "What test did you do for Eve?"

The ME put a gentle hand on Tony's shoulder and gave a heartfelt sigh. "Ahh, Tony…I don't know if I should be the one to tell you…" He paused and finally seemed to come to some decision before continuing. "She came to me yesterday morning with nausea and headache. We did several tests, including a pregnancy test just to rule it out."

Tony stared at Ducky from where he had begun to lean against the wall. "What was the result?" His voice had left him, and it was all he could do to whisper his question. He was terrified of what the answer was going to be.

"The test was positive; however she suffered a miscarriage as a result of the beating she endured. I'm so sorry, Tony…So, so sorry."

Tony felt his legs give out from under him, and he slid to the floor. He cradled his head in his hands and wished he could scream in frustration. "If that bastard isn't dead…I'm gonna kill him. I swear to God. I'm gonna kill him."

* * *

The nurse hovered around checking all of her readings and making notes on her clipboard. "The doctor is working on getting you admitted. He has ordered several medications for you, including some Demerol for pain relief and Valium for anxiety. He wants you to rest." She continued to adjust the blankets and chatter as she circled her patient. "That man of yours is so handsome. If you ever decide to throw him over, half the nurses here will be waiting in line to snag him."

Eve gave her first smile since she was brought to the ER and whispered, "Mine."

The nurse smiled. "I don't blame you honey. I really don't..."

Eve lost track of the conversation as she watched the woman flit around her small room like a hummingbird on speed. She felt a flush of amusement at the comparison. She lay perfectly still as the nurse injected both medications and slowly felt the drugs begin to pull her under. She finally closed her emerald green eyes and gave in to the comforting pull of unconsciousness.


	8. Letting Go

I do not own NCIS or any of the characters on the show. I really wish I did, because then I could hang out with Gibbs and the Gang on a regular basis. Warning, this chapter contains discussion of violence and sexual assault. If that will offend or upset you then please don't read this. If it won't upset you then please enjoy the next chapter in our journey. It should have an angst alert on it too I suppose. Enjoy!

Letting Go

_Some think it's holding on that makes one strong; sometimes it's letting go. -- __Sylvia Robinson_

* * *

Tony was still sitting in the hallway with his head in his hands trying to process Ducky's news when her room was suddenly swarmed by a doctor and several nurses. He jumped up and attempted to enter the room only to be stopped forcefully by Gibbs and Ducky. He began to pace restlessly in circles until the doctor finally came out of the room and addressed him.

The man looked serious as he stood there, his arms crossed against his chest. "Agent DiNozzo, we have to take her to surgery. We've been monitoring her blood pressure since she came in, and it suddenly dropped dangerously low. We're certain that she's got some internal bleeding, and her spleen is the most likely culprit. If we don't do the surgery now she will bleed to death."

Tony nodded wordlessly, a stricken expression on his face, and allowed himself to be pushed gently down the hall to the nurse's station to sign the necessary consent forms. He watched silently as they pushed her bed rapidly down the hall towards the elevators and then sat heavily in a nearby chair. He could feel Gibbs' hand on his shoulder, and he took comfort from the grasp of his surrogate father.

Tony wanted to pray. He figured that it was what people did in this kind of situation. He had not prayed in years having given up on a religion that told him to honor his father even though the man had spent years ignoring him or worse, but he found himself searching his memory for any words that would bring some kind of divine intervention and save the life of the woman that he loved.

Gibbs stood by Tony's side and felt helpless. There wasn't much he could say or do to help, so he sat beside him in the uncomfortable chairs and tried to offer comfort just with his very presence.

The nurse finally came and took them up to the surgical waiting room. Tony sat silent with his head in his hands as he thought about what he'd learned. Eve had been pregnant. She'd been kidnapped, beaten, strangled, possibly raped and had miscarried their baby. He realized that he was scared that he was going to lose everything important to him. Their life together had never exactly been Ozzy and Harriet, but it made him feel complete in a way he couldn't explain.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair making it stand on end. The waiting was driving him mad. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now. He felt Gibbs place a comforting hand on the back of his neck and turned his head to meet his eyes

"I don't know how much more waiting I can take."

"I know Tony. Just be patient; the doctor will be out soon. How are you; you've had a lot thrown at you tonight. Where's your head?"

Tony sat and stared at his hands for a couple of minutes before replying. "I don't know. I mean what Davis did to her notwithstanding, I just found out that she…we were going to have a baby and now we're not." He gulped in air and rubbed his face viciously. "I'm just so goddamned angry, Boss. That bastard took something from us that we can't ever get back. I hope he's dead. I don't want to have to tell her that he's still alive and our baby isn't." He paused again and started to massage his temples.

Gibbs sat there, listening as Tony ranted then asked, "How would you have felt about her being pregnant?"

Tony looked at Gibbs and blinked, his eyes glassy with tears he refused to shed, as he replied, "It would have been an adjustment since we hadn't discussed it, but it would… it would have been amazing. I don't know what kind of father I'd be…I had such a _great_ example growing up…" His sarcasm was apparent, but Gibbs simply waited for Tony to finish his thought. "…but she would have been a wonderful mother…"

Gibbs snorted and was surprised to see Tony's head snap up as if he'd been slapped.

"Boss, you don't know her like I do. You've never seen that side of her, no one, with the exception of Abby and Ducky, has really even made an effort. You know how highly I think of you, Gibbs, I mean you're closer to me than my own father is, but I love her, and I can't imagine my life without her in it. I just wish the two of you could quit fighting with each other long enough to see that it's tearing me apart. There is room in my life for both of you; will you please just give her a chance?"

Gibbs felt a wave of guilt roll over him, and felt the corresponding burn of embarrassment on the back of his neck and his ears. Tony was right; he'd never really given her a chance to show just what she felt for DiNozzo. He finally looked up and met serious green eyes. "You're right. I guess that she and I need to have a talk when she's feeling better…"

He was interrupted by the doctor coming through the swinging doors. He looked exhausted, and his scrubs were covered in sweat and smeared with blood. "Agent DiNozzo?"

Tony stood expectantly and waited, "How is she?"

"It was touch and go for a while; the bleeding was worse than we anticipated. She's a fighter and she came through it like a champ. We removed her spleen and stopped the hemorrhaging. She's in recovery getting a transfusion now, and we'll be putting her in a room as soon as possible."

"Can I see her…just for a second, please?'

The doctor smiled, he could feel the young man's concern, and saw no harm in allowing him to sit with his lover. "I'll get the nurse to take you back. You can sit with her until she goes to her room."

Tony grabbed the doctor's hand and shook it. "Thank you for everything."

"I'll check back with her after she's been awake for a while." He turned and walked back through the swinging doors and disappeared.

A few minutes after that a nurse came and escorted Tony to the recovery area. He sat by the bed and gently stroked her arm. She looked peaceful in her drug induced slumber, the bruises vivid against her pale skin. He took a deep breath, and finally began to speak, saying whatever came to mind.

"Hey Evie…the doctor said you're going to be fine…they told me I could sit here with you while you wake up." He paused and brushed her hair back from her face then continued his voice a hoarse whisper. "Ducky told me…oh God, I wish…I don't know…I wish I had been with you when you found out you could be pregnant…I wish it had been me that was taken so you wouldn't have gone through all this…I wish our baby…" His voice broke and he put his head down on the edge of the bed. He sat there, hot tears scalding his eyes soaking into the sheets when he felt her fingers slowly thread through his hair. He looked up and found himself staring into a pair of emerald green eyes that mirrored his own inner turmoil.

She gave a tremulous smile and whispered, "What happened?"

"You had emergency surgery; you started to hemorrhage and they removed your spleen. You're going to be fine though."

She looked longingly at the cup of ice the nurse had left on the tray-table. Tony reached for it and gently wet her lips with a small piece of ice before letting her suck it from his fingers.

"I'm sorry about everything…I…"

"Hey! Stop that right now. You don't have anything to apologize for. I love you. I would have loved our baby, and you would have been such a great mom…"

Tears started to slip from her eyes as he gently picked up her hand, being careful of the I.V., and pressed his lips to it.

"Will you tell me what happened to you?"

She looked at him through her tears. "Does it matter?"

"Not to me, never to me…I just want you to heal, and you won't if you don't talk to someone about it."

She averted her eyes from his and stared at the sheet. She really didn't want him to know what had happened in that room. It wouldn't change anything or make it go away. She took a deep breath and finally said in that voice that wasn't more than a harsh whisper, "One day…maybe."

He sat beside her; comforting her as she cried, and then as she finally succumbed to sleep once again.

* * *

When Eve woke again she found herself in a private room and Gibbs sitting in the chair beside her bed. She lay there for the longest time watching him as he worked a crossword puzzle. He was muttering aloud and finally said, "Hmmm, main artery, five letters…"

She spoke up quietly, "Aorta. Where's Tony?"

He looked up suddenly to find her eyes on his face as he wrote the answer in. "He's getting cleaned up. How long have you been awake?"

"Not long. Gibbs…I just want to thank you for saving my life. I know I would have suffocated if you hadn't been able to get me breathing."

He shook off her thanks and leaned forward in his chair. "You saved Abby. Why would you take such a beating for her? DiNozzo I can understand, but why would you do that for any of the rest of us?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Agent Dupree…Eve, It's important to me. I need to know why."

She began to pluck at the blanket restlessly as she formulated her reply. "You know how I feel about Tony."

He continued to question her. "Actually, you've never said exactly."

She gave an absent smile as she contemplated Tony. "I love him more than you can ever imagine."

Gibbs continued to press, somehow knowing that her answer was important and was something he needed to know. "Why would you take a near fatal beating for us though?"

"Because he would, that's why."

"You love him that much?"

Her voice was deadly serious when she replied, "I will love him until the day I die."

Gibbs nodded, seeming to come to some decision, and then he reached out and picked up her hand. "I think it's time we declared a truce."

She gave him a crooked smile then whispered, "That works for me…" The pair sat in companionable silence until the man they both loved reentered the room.

* * *

For the two weeks she stayed in the hospital Tony was able to keep the news from her that Davis had survived his injuries and was again in FBI custody. For those two weeks she didn't mention Davis or anything about her ordeal. He'd asked several more times for her to tell him what had happened, and each time she had turned her head away and refused to answer. She seemed to go deeper inside herself as she dealt with her memories and the nightmares that it had brought. She had actually lost weight while recovering since her appetite had been virtually non-existent, and she had spent most of her time staring at the walls of her room. She hadn't cried since she had awakened from her surgery, and he was getting worried about her lack of reaction.

It wasn't until he had finally got her home that he was able to see exactly how bad things could be. She spent another two weeks sitting in the window sill of the big picture window in their living room, just watching the people in the streets below. She she had quit sleeping in the bed, had actually quit sleeping completely in an attempt to stave off the nightmares that came with regularity. She didn't leave the apartment unless he made her go, and she seemed to have lost the spark that made her so unique.

Tony finally got tired of watching her wither away to nothing. She had slowly turned into a ghost that silently haunted the apartment they shared. He consulted the NCIS psychologist to ask about PTSD and how to help her deal with it. Once he was armed with that information, he came home one evening determined to have it out with her, to make her give him some kind of reaction. He found her sitting on the deck with a cigarette in hand as she watched the sun slowly set on the horizon. He sat down beside her.

"It's good to see you outside, even if you are smoking again."

She didn't respond, just stared off into the horizon. She had become completely emotionally detached from him and their life together.

He tried again. "Eve, please talk to me about this...it's killing you…us…please just tell me what you want me to do."

She looked at him and just shook her head then stood and walked back inside the apartment without answering. He followed and grabbed her arm forcing her to look at him. "Talk to me, Goddamn it! I'm not going to lose you to…THIS!"

Something flared behind eyes that had been dull for too long. "You want me to talk to you? You _really_ want to know what happened." Eve clinched her hands into fists as she watched him rant at her.

"Yes damn it! I want you not this wraith that has been living in our apartment. Tell me so we can get past it."

She saw the sheen of unshed tears in his eyes, and that finally got through to her. Eve realized that he was hurting, and she wasn't making it any better. She took a deep breath, walked over to where he stood and slowly put her arms around his waist. It was the first time she had touched him voluntarily in almost a month. "Tony…"

As soon as he felt her arms wrap around him he relaxed and swooped her up in his arms. He sat down on the couch with her in his lap, cuddling her as close as he could. "Tell me, Evie, _please_…"

She sat there silent for the longest time then she said in a small voice, "He raped me."

Tony sat as still as possible and tried not to flinch when she began to give him details of the attack.

"I wouldn't tell them anything, and I wouldn't quit fighting, so his men held me down and Davis raped me. I laughed at him…told him he was a joke and a coward, and that's when he beat and strangled me the first time. I really thought I was going to die. I lost consciousness; when I finally came to I was covered in blood, and I realized that I had miscarried..." Her voice trailed off as she started to shake. He felt her tears wet his shirt as she began to cry. "Tony it wasn't the rape…that was bad, but it can be an occupational hazzard; I can compartmentalize that; it was losing our baby...when I realized I had, I…_Christ_! I'm so sorry." She began to cry in earnest, and he knew that it was going to finally be alright. She had let go of everything and could finally grieve.

He held her for the longest time while she released her pent-up sorrow, and when her sobs finally subsided he tilted her head up so he could look at her face. "We're going to get through this, and we're going to get through Davis' trial."

She went completely still in his lap then asked, "What do you mean his trial?"

"He survived the stab wounds. The FBI has him in custody again" _Shit!_ He hadn't meant to let that slip.

She sat silent while she digested that bit of information then she said, "Good."

He was taken aback by her answer. "Good?"

"Yeah, good, this way _I_ get to kill him. An eye for an eye."

Tony let that go, not wanting to push her away again. "You need to get some sleep. Come on, let's go to bed."

He stood up and carried her into the bedroom and gently tossed her on the bed. She lay there for a minute and watched him intently then finally patted the mattress next to her. He gave her a huge smile then stripped down to his boxers and slid in beside her. He took a deep breath when she immediately snuggled up next to him and rested her head on his chest. It was the first time they had shared the bed since she'd been home, and he realized just how much he'd missed it.

He pressed a kiss into the top of her head then whispered, "Evie?"

"Hmmm…" She had already started drifting off to sleep.

"Do you want to try again?"

"Maybe…once I'm feeling more like myself…I think I would." She paused for a second then murmured, "I love you."

Her breathing evened out and for the first time in almost a month she slept. Tony tightened his arms around her, the closeness bringing him as much comfort as it did to her. He whispered into the darkness, "I love you too." A few minutes later he felt himself drift off, exhausted by the emotional storm they had weathered.


	9. No Tears

I do not own NCIS or any of the characters on the show. It makes me really sad to have to repeat that over and over again. This chapter didn't turn out exactly the way I had envisioned it, but it's important to what is coming next. Good or bad, let me hear from you. I hope you enjoy the next chapter in our journey…

No Tears

_No more tears now; I will think upon revenge. -- Mary Stuart_

* * *

Eve woke early and quite abruptly, her heart pounding in her chest. She felt a bit odd but chalked it up to having slept for the first time in almost a month. The room was silent and dark; she lay there for a minute just feeling the silence, absorbing all of the sounds of the night. She finally calmed down when she could sense no threat and took a deep breath as she tried to relax against the mass that surrounded her. Tony had somehow managed to wrap his entire body around her like a second skin; his arms held her tight against his chest, and she could feel the gentle caress of his breath against the back of her neck.

She settled her body against his; she could feel the tickle of his chest hair against her back through the thin shirt she was wearing, and she fought the two separate instincts. One instinct was to turn over and lose herself in his warmth and the other conflicting one was to get as far away from him as she could. It was an infuriating paradox to a woman who was used to controlling everything about her life. If nothing else, the things that had been done to her in that room had taught her a lesson in humility.

She hated the feeling of not wanting to be near Tony. She loved everything about him and had always loved lying next to him with nothing between them; yet now, every time he touched her she wanted to fly out of her own skin. Their relationship had always been very physical, but they had barely touched each other in a month. It wasn't his fault. He had been patient, loving and had tried to help her get over the incident. She took a deep breath and sighed to herself. No, none of this was his fault, but he'd sure as hell had to deal with the fallout.

Eve squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that threatened to come. She wanted her life back, and as she lay there and thought about it she realized that there were several things she could do. One was to go back to work as soon as she could get cleared for field work. Once she was cleared for field work then she could put the next part of her plan into play. First though, first she had something more important to do and that had everything to do with the man holding her so tightly.

She eased her body around until she was facing him directly and then she placed the gentlest of kisses on his lips. Tony woke as soon as he felt the pressure of her lips on his and opened his eyes to find himself face to face with Eve.

"What was that for?" His voice was low and rough with sleep.

She said nothing, just stared back, mesmerized by the emotions she could see in the green depths of his eyes.

"Evie, what's going on here? Tell me what you need from me,"

She slowly extended her hand and began to trace the planes of his face. His skin was warm and pliant beneath her fingers, and as she left his face and began to caress the rest of his body with tentative strokes of her fingers he closed his eyes and exhaled heavily.

"Tony…" She paused, fighting the urge to roll away from his proximity. Intellectually she knew that she could kill Tony and barely leave a mark on his body; she knew she could defend herself if necessary, but trying to deal with the memories of that warehouse had her head all screwed up. Her skin was screaming at the close contact, her stomach was knotted up, and her mind was filled with white noise telling her move away. She took another deep breath to push back the memories and moved even closer to him.

Tony's breathing became more ragged as she draped her body over his. He could feel the heat from her body, the gentle caresses she was subjecting him to were driving him mad, and he itched to reach up and taste the skin of her throat. It had been a month since they had made love and his body had responded intensely to her invitation. He kept a tight rein on his self control; he didn't want to push her since this was the first time she'd initiated any intimate contact since the kidnapping. "This isn't fair; don't tease. Tell me what you want; come on, you've always been able to talk to me.

"I want…" She sat up suddenly, straddling his waist, and stripped her t-shirt off in one quick motion. "I want you."

Tony's eyes dilated at the sudden exposure of her creamy skin, the green iris turning black with arousal, and he pulled her tightly against his body, his lips seeking hers. Once he was sure she wasn't going to fight to escape he rolled over and pinned her underneath him then began to kiss and caress until she couldn't speak coherently. Tony smiled triumphantly to himself as he pressed her further into the mattress and proceeded to make love to her until they were both exhausted and unable to move.

Two hours later they were lying amongst the sweat dampened, tangled sheets, wrapped around each other closely enough to share the same skin. Tony was sleeping; she could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest under her cheek and could hear his heartbeat as he slumbered. She wanted the comfort of sleep, but her body wasn't ready to give in yet to her exhaustion. She finally felt clean and whole again; she had replaced the memories of the attack with new ones that wouldn't haunt her.

She had decided that she was going back to work, and she knew that he wasn't going to like it. It wasn't permanent, once she had done what she needed to do she was going to turn in her badge to John and take up one of the other numerous agencies who had courted her over the last several years. She wanted, no needed, to be here in DC, and it was time to do something about that. First though, first she was going to kill Jeff Davis. She knew without being told that her agency had plans for their former operative, and those plans would take him out of the country to capture some of his less savory contacts. All she needed was five minutes and it would be over. If she could get to him when he was overseas well then, all the better for her; no pesky civil rights to worry about. Tony wouldn't approve…of that she was certain, but she had no intention of putting him at risk. It would be better for all involved if it looked like John had simply sent her back overseas to work.

Eve pressed her body even closer to Tony's, feeling his arms tighten around her torso. She sighed in contentment and felt like purring. It had taken time, but she finally felt like she wasn't going to break into a million pieces. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The burley instructor stood still as he watched the line of federal agents prepare. He took a deep breath and shouted, "Shooters on the line…FIRE!"

The air filled with the sounds of a line of federal agents emptying magazine after magazine into the paper targets set up in front of the line. Tony focused his attention on the image tacked in front of him and slid into a zone as he fired one shot after another. He felt…hell he couldn't describe how he felt this morning. It was amazing...even with the lack of sleep. Since the team had no new case, Gibbs had decided to put everyone through their paces this morning and had dragged them all to the firing range for some practice.

Tony emptied his second clip and waited for the command to holster his weapon. He stood there, patiently, whistling to himself as Gibbs checked each target to see how each of them had done. Per his usual he had gotten a great score, and was ready to head to the gym for a serious workout.

He hadn't wanted to come to work that morning. It had been an enormous struggle to drag himself out of their bed once he'd awakened that morning to find her sleeping so peacefully. He had watched as she slept for a few minutes before deciding that he didn't have the heart to wake her before he left. His and Eve's reunion the previous night had been perfect. He'd missed her, missed their physical connection, and had been relieved that she had finally felt safe enough to take the next step in her recovery.

Once they were finished at the range Gibbs took them all back to the gym for a thorough beating. Tony knew he was going to have some new and interesting bruises, but he had done a good job of holding his own against both Gibbs and Ziva as they sparred. All in all it had been a good morning.

After all of the excitement of the morning, Tony finally settled himself at his desk with the files of several cold cases in front of him. In lieu of a new case Gibbs had them studying the old files looking for anything the original agents might have overlooked. He grimaced as he opened his second file and found an unsolved rape homicide from his first year at NCIS. He glanced up to the sky…someone up there was not happy with him. Why else would he get a rape case to look at? He sighed and began to read the file again.

* * *

Special Agent Tobias Fornell looked at the man sitting across from him and tried unsuccessfully to hide his disgust. Jeff Davis, former covert operative and current traitor sat there calmly and waited for the other shoe to drop. He was aware that surviving the stab wound that Agent DiNozzo so lovingly gifted him with was pure luck, and so he waited, waited to find out exactly what his agency wanted with him. He had known John Maxwell his entire career, and he would bet his life on the fact that the Agency wanted his overseas contacts. He smiled at the FBI Agent sitting at the table with him and decided how best to play out the hand he'd been dealt. He leaned forward.

"Fornell. How are things at the Hoover Building?"

Tobias gave him a hard eyed stare and shrugged. "The same, nothing changes much there."

"May I ask you a question?" Davis decided to do a bit of fishing for information.

"I suppose, it will kill time until your attorney, the Attorney General, and the others get here to speak with you."

"How _is_ Agent Dupree doing?"

Fornell's eyes went cold as he thought about the damage done to that woman. He was not giving this psycho anything. "You'd have to ask Agent DiNozzo that question."

Davis wheedled, "Come on. Surely you heard how she's doing. Tony DiNozzo is not going to speak to me. Hell…he just might try to kill me again."

"I don't blame him. You're lucky you survived. Knife wound to the gut…nasty business…Ah, here they are."

Davis glanced up at the door to see his own attorney, the Attorney General of the United States, the Director of National Intelligence, and CIA Director John Maxwell enter the room. The men crowded around the small table and the Attorney General pulled out a sheaf of papers for Davis' attorney.

"Here's the agreement. If Mr. Davis gives us his overseas contacts then we will take the death penalty off the table."

Davis blanched in alarm. He'd not realized that the Attorney General wanted to seek the death penalty. He glanced at his attorney in question, but Maxwell's hard tones filled the room.

"Don't be stupid, Jeff. You know treason is a capital offense. You're lucky they're willing to give you life. The kidnapping and torture of one of your own…you son of a bitch…you're lucky I just don't lock you in a room with Agent Dupree and let her finish this…_that_ was my first instinct. Fortunately for you we need your contacts. _Sign the goddamned papers and let's get this over with."_

He looked at his former director and could see why the man had been such a formidable spy. His gaze was cold and promised death. Jeff Davis accepted the paper and pen, leaned over the table and signed his name on the document.

The DNI smiled. "Good. Remember, we own you now. You will do whatever we want or this agreement is null and void. You will begin immediately trying to make contact with your people. Once you set up a meeting we'll take over." The tall man turned and walked from the room followed by Fornell, the Attorney General and Maxwell.

Davis sat at the table with his attorney for a minute more before the guards came and returned him to his cell.

* * *

Gibbs leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his ever present cup of coffee. Each member of his team was working industriously on cold case files since they didn't have an active case yet. He kept his gaze tight on DiNozzo as he read through the file Gibbs had placed on his desk. He had known it was a rape-homicide and would probably be slightly uncomfortable, but he wanted Tony to work through any issues he might have with rape before they got called to an active scene. He knew it was unorthodox, but he was trying to protect his senior field agent from any discomfort or embarrassment in the field.

Tony could feel Gibbs' eyes on him as he perused the file. He was certain he knew what Gibbs was up to. He was grateful for the concern since they had not had a call out for a rape since the incident. He was certain he could do his job effectively, but somehow knew that he would have a whole lot more sympathy for the victims than he had ever had previously.

He had been working for hours, skipping lunch and dinner as he worked his way through the case one more time. He looked up and realized that somehow the entire day had passed while he made phone calls and spoke to old witnesses. He and Gibbs were the only two left in the bullpen. His computer beeped to remind him to check email. He opened the program and smiled when he saw one from Eve, but that smile turned into an immediate frown when he read the contents.

_Tony,_

_I went back to work today. I'll be at Langley for a week at least prepping for my qualifications. I know you're pissed, but I need to get my life back in order, and work has always been a mainstay for me._

_I'll call you later tonight._

_Love,_

_Eve_

He gritted his teeth and swore under his breath when he finished reading her message. "Shit!"

Gibbs glanced up in his direction again and asked in a quiet voice, "Everything alright, DiNozzo?"

"Yeah, everything's just peachy." The sarcasm dripped from his tone. He finally sighed in a weary manner then almost whispered, "She went back to work today."

Gibbs could feel the tension radiating off of the other man, but he kept his tone mild when he replied. "That's good, isn't it? I know you didn't expect her not to."

Tony sighed loudly in frustration and replied, "Yes and no. I knew she'd go back to work somewhere; I had hoped it wouldn't be back at Langley. Wishful thinking on my part I know, but after everything she'd been through I had hoped she would want to do something less dangerous."

"Talk about it tonight."

"We can't she's at _Langley_ for at least a week prepping for her quals. The only reason they'd keep her there is if they were also reading her in for a mission. I think she's going back out in the field. Christ! I don't know if I can deal with this…"

His tirade was interrupted by Fornell's appearance in the office. "Can't deal with what, DiNozzo?"

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with Fornell." Tony turned his eyes back to the computer screen and began to type out a reply to her email.

Gibbs stood up and walked over to his old friend. "What do you want, Tobias?"

The FBI Agent looked at both men and wished he didn't have to give them this information. "The AG made a deal with Davis today."

Tony's attention was again focused on Fornell and his announcement. "WHAT? They're giving that bastard a deal. You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

"Sorry, no. They are. The DNI wants his overseas contacts; the CIA wants his blood. Where's Agent Dupree, I went by your apartment to give her the news in person and she wasn't there."

"Eve's at Langley."

Fornell turned a ghostly shade of pale. "When did she go back to Langley?"

"Today."

Gibbs finally spoke up. "What's going on?"

"Jethro, the CIA is going to take Davis out of the country to capture some of his contacts. We can't have a rogue agent out there wanting him dead."

"Fornell," Tony practically spat his name out. "She's a training officer now. She's not likely to get near any op that her agency is setting up, _especially_ where Jeff Davis is concerned." Even as Tony said the words he wasn't sure if he believed them. He knew she would kill Davis in a New York minute if she got the chance.

Fornell just shook his head. "I'll tell you something kid, and don't quote me on this. I wouldn't blame her or you if you went after him. Remember, if you tell anyone I said that I'll deny all knowledge."

Tony finally smiled at the older man. "Yeah, I'll remember that."

* * *

John Maxwell took a good look at Eve as she sat across from his desk. "You're sure that you're ready to go back to work?"

"I'm going insane with nothing to do. I'm ready. I just need a week or so to prep before redoing my quals."

"If you're sure, then go to your quarters and settle in. You can get started tomorrow morning."

She flashed a smile that didn't reach her eyes as she replied. "Yes, Sir."

She stood and walked from the room headed for her temporary quarters. Her mind filled with just one thought. _Stage one is complete, on to stage two._


	10. Devils and Demons

I don't own NCIS or any of the characters from the show. If I did…well then…Tony would get much better story lines, and I would actually give Gibbs a love-life (the man _really_ needs one). I have been working through some of the worst writer's block which has been brought on by a lovely combination of job stress and my summer class schedule, so I hope this doesn't suck too much. Let me know, good or bad. Thanks for all of the reviews and comments. I read and appreciate every single one of them. Here is the next chapter in our journey…

Devils and Demons

_My devil danced with his demon and the fiddler's tune is far from over – Dexter Morgan_

* * *

This assignment was really going to suck. Tony sighed and leaned back in his chair as he listened to the SecNav give them their instructions. What was even more unbelievable was that Tony was even being included. Something seemed so wrong about being told to guard a man who had tried to kill him too many times to count. He was pissed off about the whole situation. To make things even worse he hadn't seen Eve in six weeks. She had gone to Langley to prep for her quals, and other than nightly phone calls, hadn't seen or spoken to her. She had been evasive when he asked what she was doing, and he was certain that they were preparing her for something dangerous.

Tomorrow morning he, Gibbs and Ziva were scheduled to meet up with Fornell's team and the pair of CIA agents who were accompanying Davis on this little excursion, and he just wanted the whole thing to be over and done with. Luckily, this briefing was the last meeting in a day filled with them, so he would be free to run home and pack a bag for what promised to be a long trip. Yeah, this was really going to suck…

Gibbs was not enthused about the idea of making this trip even if it meant that NCIS would be able to apprehend the naval officers who had been working as part of Davis' organization. What was even more hinky was the fact that the CIA and FBI had insisted on DiNozzo taking part in this assignment even though he had so much history with the prisoner. It didn't make any sense, but then again he had to remember who he was working with. The Company and the FBI generally had reasons for everything they planned and executed. He'd given his objections, but Director Maxwell and the SecNav had brushed them all aside when they had both instructed that the three of them pack and be ready to leave at 0600 tomorrow.

* * *

John Maxwell turned away from the now blank screen and turned to the agent who had been sitting out of the range of the camera.

"You know what you have to do right?"

"I've got it. Follow at a distance and take out each contact as Davis points them out. I'm to allow NCIS to take the naval officers into custody."

"What's our endgame?" Maxwell stared at the agent sitting across from him. The casual posture of his subordinate was irritating him to no end.

"Kill the terrorist who was going to ultimately purchase the software, and finally to take Davis out. The FBI is not to get any more information from him than they already have. I'll leave for the first location at 0500 tomorrow morning, and I'll report to you after the first target is taken out."

A smile slipped from the Director's lips as he responded, "I'm taking a big risk giving you this assignment. I want you to take Kort with you as back up."

A frown creased the face of the agent. "Kort, Sir? Are you certain he can help me with this mission?"

"He goes or you stay. This point is not negotiable."

Davis watched the agent's eyes narrow as the options were considered, finally there was a nod of acquiesce. "Okay. I agree. I appreciate your trust; you can count on me. Sir, I won't let you down."

Maxwell leaned back in his chair and watched his agent stand. "I know you won't. You're dismissed."

Eve Dupree gave her first real smile since she had returned to Langley. "Yes Sir. I'll see you when I return." She walked from the room and headed to her temporary quarters to pack and return home. She found Kort waiting for her in the hall.

"Hello, Eve. I see we're traveling together."

He received an unladylike snort in response. "Not my choice. Pick me up at 0430 at my apartment tomorrow. Pack light and bring only necessities. We'll be traveling light and often."

"Are you sure you're ready to do this?"

Another unladylike snort was his answer. "What the hell do you think I've been training for this last six weeks? I'm ready."

"I _know _you're physically ready. Are you emotionally ready to do this? After all the man did torture you."

"Trent, thanks for your concern. Davis is not my target until after we get the terrorist who wanted that software. Once we get him, well then, I get to turn my considerable attention span and my particularly gruesome imagination to Mr. Davis."

Trent released a put-upon sigh and shook his head. "Are you ready to see DiNozzo? He's going to be guarding Davis."

"I'm aware. They think that parading him in front of my rifle scope will stop me from doing something to Davis until it's time. The FBI has no idea what's coming and neither does NCIS. I'll deal with the fallout after this is over. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home and sleep in my own bed for the first time in over a month. I'll see you in the morning."

She turned and walked down the hall, the only noise from the clicking of her heels as she headed towards her quarters. Before she could open the door she was confronted by her personal physician. Dr. Megan Callaway was leaning against the door waiting for her to come back.

Eve rolled her eyes in disgust. "Jesus! Can't I get out of here without it being made into a huge deal? What do you want, Megan?"

"I have your last lab results here and the results of your final physical and psychological evaluations. I wanted to go over them with you before you left."

A world weary sigh greeted that announcement and then, "Come on in."

* * *

Gibbs pulled up to the curb outside Tony's apartment and watched the younger man as he gathered his bag and prepared to exit the car. He stopped his second with a quick hand to his arm.

"Are you ready for this?"

"Yeah…I suppose I am, Boss…as ready as I'll ever be. I've just got to throw a few things in my bag. I'll meet you here at 0500 tomorrow."

"Get some rest, DiNozzo. This will be over soon enough."

"Night." Tony climbed out of the car and ambled over to the door to the building. Gibbs watched him until he disappeared behind the outer door of the building and then headed home himself to pack and sleep."

Tony unlocked his door and entered the apartment to find Eve standing in the kitchen with several bags of takeout and a bottle of tequila in hand. He dropped his bag in shock and walked into the kitchen area.

He was furious and didn't hold back when he demanded, "Where the hell have you been?"

She stared at him with wide, innocent eyes and poured two shots of the liquor. "Langley, where else?"

Tony gave her a disbelieving look and responded, "What have you been doing for the last six weeks?"

She sighed and threw back her shot before pouring another one. "Seeing my doctor and talking to the shrinks. Everything that happened…I just needed some time…you know…to deal with it. I thought you wanted me to talk to someone about what happened."

"I did…I do…I'm sorry." He backed down and grabbed his drink. He watched her as she began to set the bags out. There was something about her that made him uneasy, but she seemed so much better he decided to let it go. "So…what did you bring for dinner?"

She smiled and opened the bags. "Thai food tonight." She leaned across the counter and captured his lips in a kiss. "I missed you."

"You know I'm leaving in the morning, right?"

"Yeah, John told me. I wanted to see you before you left."

"What will you do while I'm gone?"

"Oh…I'm sure I'll be busy enough. I have a new training class starting tomorrow. I have to be back at Langley at 0500 tomorrow to meet them."

He nodded, satisfied with her answer, and grabbed two plates from the cabinet. "Let's eat."

She nodded and grabbed two beers from the refrigerator before following him to the table.

* * *

Tony sat beside Gibbs on the plane apparently lost in thought. Something was definitely off with her. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but there was something that was different. He couldn't put his finger on it, so he stared out the window replaying that morning's activities in his head as he tried to decide what it was.

They had spent the night getting reacquainted with each other, and had almost made each other late by spending too much time together in the shower. It had been their good bye that had seemed off…

"_Be careful, Tony. Please don't take any chances."_

"_I will…I'll be home as soon as possible, I promise. I love you."_

"_I know you do." _

_She had kissed him and ran to the car waiting for her at the curb while he stood there and watched as the tail lights disappeared in the distance. A couple of minutes later, Gibbs had pulled up and they had left on their way to the airport._

"She didn't tell me that she loved me…"

His mumbled comment caught Gibbs' attention. "What was that, Tony?"

"This morning…she didn't tell me that she loved me before she left. There is definitely something going on."

Gibbs had shrugged noncommittally and turned back to his crossword puzzle. He was not getting in the middle of whatever drama was happening between DiNozzo and his live-in lover. His silence left Tony to his own thoughts as the plane climbed high into the sky and turned south towards Colombia.

* * *

Eve leaned back in her seat and tried to relax. Tony had kept her up far too late…no wait…they had kept each other up far too late making up for lost time. She hadn't told him she loved him when she left. She'd done it on purpose. Tony was sharp, and he would notice the omission right away. When John had told her he was going with Davis she had not been pleased. Putting him in harm's way was the Company's way of keeping her in line. There were also two of her brethren traveling with NCIS and the FBI. Those two goons were there solely to make sure that she didn't kill Davis too quickly.

She sighed and took a sip of the coffee that Trent passed to her. They hadn't really needed to do that. John had ensured that she would get to kill Jeff Davis eventually…She couldn't have set it up better herself if she had tried. She hadn't wanted to lie to Tony, but her part of the operation was classified…higher than classified. There were three people who actually knew what her mission was, and she and Kort were two of them. She had no intention of exposing Tony to that kind of black-op unless she had absolutely no choice. Knowing Davis, it was certain that the crew guarding him would run into an ambush before this little safari was over with.

They were heading Cartagena, Colombia…where her story with Tony had begun. The _Seahawk_ was scheduled to dock in two days time, and according to Intel there was an officer onboard who had been working with Davis regarding the software. Too bad she couldn't kill him, but his Colombian contact was dead, he just didn't know it yet.

* * *

Ziva sat quietly beside the prisoner and tried to ignore his incessant chatter. He was trying to hit on her of all things. She rolled her eyes and finally turned to the man and said with a scowl, motioning to the pencil she held in her hand.

"Do you see this pencil?"

"Yes…"

"If you do not shut up I will take this pencil and do something to you that will be most unpleasant. Do you understand me?"

The man had stopped mid sentence and gulped. "Got it. No more conversation."

Ziva sighed, "Mr. Davis, conversation implies that two people are speaking to one another. I don't want to speak to you, so for the last time, shut up."

She turned her attention to the FBI Agent sitting next to her and motioned that she was moving towards her co workers for a bit. She settled across the aisle from Gibbs and Tony and leaned her head back to enjoy the blessed silence. _Finally._

Gibbs glanced at her as she relaxed into the seat. "Prisoner giving you trouble, Ziver?"

"No he is not. He just wants to proposition me." She rolled her eyes in disgust. "…as if I would even look at scum like him…after what he did…" She wisely stopped before she could say more, and her gaze found her partner who was staring determinedly out the window, ignoring everything said around him. She locked eyes with Gibbs and motioned towards Tony as if to say "What's with him?"

Gibbs shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to the crossword in front of him. Yeah, he really needed to learn how to stay out of his agents' domestic affairs.

* * *

Tony walked down the stairs from the plane and took a deep breath of familiar humid tropical air. He smiled as he filled his lungs, immediately making note of the various scents in the air. He caught a whiff of the wild jasmine that grew in the area and thought about Eve. He hoped that she was keeping busy with her new recruits.

The group managed to get themselves loaded into one vehicle headed for town and their first meeting before the ship docked. Tony smiled as he passed by familiar countryside that invoked some really vivid memories. He chucked quietly to himself and stared out the window as they headed to the city proper.

Gibbs found himself watching his Senior Field Agent with a concerned stare. Tony was definitely heading down memory lane the closer they got to town. He wondered if it had been a good idea to allow DiNozzo to decide where Davis would set the time and place for the first meeting with his Colombian connections. Although Tony was the most knowledgeable about the area and the people in it from his time as an Agent Afloat, Gibbs was still a little nervous that his agent wouldn't be able to separate his job from his personal vendetta against their prisoner. The first and only priority for NCIS was to take the sailors into custody and get them back to Washington for processing. The rest would just have to take care of itself.

The Banana Moon was still just as busy and crowded as he remembered. Tony led the way in and the owner, Hector, immediately raced to greet him.

"Tony! My friend, how are you doing?"

"I'm great Hector. It's nice to be back."

"Tell me, where is your lady?"

"Ah, she's in DC for this trip. This is strictly business. Have you got the tables set up in the back room like I asked?"

"Don't worry, my friend. I've set everything up just as you requested."

He led the group to the back room of the bar, and got them seated at the tables that had been set up. Tony found himself seated at the table with Davis and a CIA agent while the rest of the crew scattered themselves for surveillance purposes.

Davis leaned over to Tony to ask, "So tell me…how is Agent Dupree?"

Tony took a deep breath and concentrated on not losing his temper. He finally turned to the man sitting next to him and gave him his "Gibbs Stare", a stare guaranteed to turn a man to stone.

"What nothing to say, Agent DiNozzo? I'm sure that she misses…my attentions…"

Tony finally gritted his teeth and said in a low, harsh tone, "Davis, if you value what's left of your life then you'll shut up. Your contact will be here in a couple of minutes and we're _supposed _to look like we actually like each other and _want_ to do business together."

The prisoner gave a smile and turned to face the door. He'd discovered a new way to torment his captors, and Agent DiNozzo couldn't do a damn thing to him to make it stop. He enjoyed his first pound of flesh and gave a barely noticeable wave to the tall man wearing a bright floral shirt who was approaching the table.

"Carlos, it's so good to see you my friend. I'd like to introduce you to a couple of friends of mine. This is Tony DiNozzo and Michael Thomaston. They are waiting for our Navy contacts to make port, and then we're going to do some business. I thought that you might like to make their acquaintance before the Lieutenant gets here."

"It would be my pleasure. Jeff, I have the briefcase that you left for me the last time you were in town. I assume you want to procure its contents before your Navy friends arrive tomorrow."

Davis inclined his head in the affirmative and motioned for the newcomer to take a seat.

The Colombian finally sat in the available chair but not before shaking hands with Davis, Tony and the CIA operative. They made small talk for a few minutes and the briefcase was handed over to Davis' possession.

They were heading out the door when the gunshot sounded and the blood began to spray.

* * *

Eve and Kort had ensconced themselves up on a rooftop several hundred yards away from the Banana Moon, and Eve was set up with her M40 sniper rifle and scope. They were just waiting for the green light to come for the hit. Kort's phone rang and he immediately answered it. He heard the voice on the other end of the line command,

"_You have the green light. Your target is wearing the floral shirt, and will be exiting the building momentarily. His identification is Carlos Ayella. He has known ties to Al Qaeda in Central and South America. Take out the target."_

He answered brusquely, "Understood. Hold the line for confirmation." He placed the call on hold and turned to Eve, "Love, you have the green light. The target is wearing the floral shirt and will be exiting in front of our people. Take him out as soon as you get the shot."

Eve took a deep breath to center herself and put her eye to the scope of her rifle. She gently rested her finger on the trigger and waited. As she saw the target exit the building she paused for a moment and let her scope rest on Tony. She let her eyes drink in the sight of him; he looked tired. Well this wasn't going to be a fun assignment, but at least she was able to make sure that he was unharmed through each step. Realizing she would lose her shot if she wasn't careful, Eve sighed and pulled herself back to business. She turned her scope to her target and sighted the center of his forehead. She took a deep breath, held it, and gently pulled the trigger. As she watched the target explode into a spray of crimson and gore she couldn't help but smile to herself. _Stage two is now underway…_


	11. Fifteen Minutes

I don't own them, never have and, sadly for me, never will. I'm still working through some kick ass writer's block. My job and class schedule have conspired to ensure that I only can write late at night or at work. Suffice to say that I'm not sleeping much these days… Oh well, enough about me and my problems. I hope you enjoy the next chapter in our journey.

Fifteen Minutes

_To appreciate heaven well, it's good for a person to have some fifteen minutes of hell. -- Will Carleton_

* * *

As Tony sat in Gibbs hotel room later that day and thought about what had happened at the bar earlier the only concrete conclusion he could draw was to decide that if he'd been following any closer then the blood would have sprayed all over his face much as it did when Kate had been killed. As it was, he ended up ruining a perfectly good white shirt by getting it covered in drops of a complete stranger's DNA. Davis, who had been walking directly behind Carlos, ended up with the lion's share of the blood and gore covering his face and torso.

Their entire group had fallen back into the bar in shock. The people running and screaming outside had created chaos until the police had come to sort it out and calm down the frightened bystanders. During all of the yelling and screaming the group from Washington had taken the time to escape out of the back door to the bar that Hector showed them.

Once they were safely at their hotel did any conversation start about what had just happened to Davis' contact. The FBI Agents wanted to chalk it up to the dangers of the city, and the CIA Agents figured that Ayella had finally crossed the wrong person. Gibbs had met with Tony and Ziva in his room to discuss the incident and its ramifications on their mission.

Ziva had turned to both men and had stated in a grave tone, "That was a professional assassination." She had turned her black, fathomless eyes to Tony and asked, "Where is Agent Dupree?"

Tony had shaken his head. "She's in DC working with a new group of recruits."

"Are you certain? Would you know if she were here?"

"Do you really think she would have missed Davis and hit that guy by mistake?"

Ziva looked at Tony, her eyes completely shuttered. "If that man were her target, then yes I think she would have. We need to find out who he is."

Gibbs nodded in agreement and immediately called McGee to make sure that he received the picture that Ziva was in the process of sending. "When you get an I.D. on the picture, call us immediately."

"On it Boss."

Two hours later McGee called back with news. "Okay, Boss, his name was Carlos Ayella. The FBI and Interpol had warrants for him on charges of terrorism and gun trafficking. This guy had known contacts in Al Qaeda in Central and South America."

Ziva nodded as Gibbs relayed the information to her and Tony. "I was correct. This was a professional job. Tony, call Agent Dupree and see where she is."

Gibbs nodded in agreement. "Call her. This job has her name all over it." He turned back to his phone and said, "McGee, when she answers trace the call if you can."

Tony sighed in exasperation. "I really don't like this…I'll call her, but I'm telling you she's in DC." He put his phone on speaker then dialed her cell phone. It rang once, twice, three times, then…

"Dupree."

"Hey."

"Tony! Where are you?"

"I'm traveling. Where are you?"

"I'm working."

"You didn't answer my question. Where are you?"

"I told you before you left; I have a new class to train. What's going on?"

"We just had a development here; someone we were meeting just took a bullet in the head…"

She was silent for a second, but when she answered her tone was filled with a combination of disbelief and sarcasm. "And you automatically assumed that I did it? Thanks a lot Tony."

The phone went silent and he realized that she had cut the connection. He turned to look at Gibbs and Ziva then asked, "Satisfied? I'm gonna be sleeping on the sofa for the next year because of that call."

McGee's voice piped over the speaker, "Uh…Boss? I traced the call to Langley, but it got lost in their system. I can't be any more specific than that. Sorry…"

* * *

"Well, that was awkward." Trent watched Eve closely as they sat in the small hotel room they had hidden themselves in for the night. "Apparently NCIS is already suspicious."

"You think?" Eve stood from her position in the room's lone chair and walked over to the only window. "It's Ziva…she's entirely too good at this. We need a distraction for her sooner rather than later so we can finish this game. Call John and update him."

"Alright…why don't you sleep for a bit whilst I make that call?"

Sleep actually sounded pretty good to her right now. She sighed and rubbed her eyes; they were gritty with fatigue, so she finally nodded in agreement then curled up on one corner of the lone bed and quickly fell into a light doze.

* * *

By the time the _Seahawk_ had docked the next morning, several of the players involved had already made significant moves to change the nature of the game. Gibbs was frustrated to find that the officer they were looking for had already disappeared into the city before they could even get to the ship. He had somehow gotten word that NCIS was on the dock and made himself scarce in the crowd departing the ship.

The Agent Afloat, Jim Johnson, was chagrined to find that his best friend on board, Lieutenant Jason Mannon, the man he told _everything_ to, was the very officer that Agent Gibbs was looking to arrest. He found himself on the receiving end of a very cold, angry stare as he stammered out an explanation as to why the suspect had known an arrest was imminent.

The terrified agent wanted to fall to his knees and beg as he tried to explain. "Agent Gibbs, he was my best friend…I had no idea he was wanted…"

"I don't want to hear any excuses from you. You're relieved of duty. You will catch the next plane back to DC, and, if you're very lucky, will only find yourself out of a job."

The Captain sputtered, "What am I supposed to do for an Agent Afloat until our cruise ends next month?"

Gibbs considered for a second then finally said, "I'll leave Officer David with you until we can get back to DC and get a more permanent placement for you. Ziva, grab your gear and report to the _Seahawk_ before it leaves port tomorrow morning."

She gave a disgruntled sigh but nodded in agreement.

* * *

Eve sat quietly at a back corner table in a dive of a bar and watched her contact leave the bar as silently as he had come. The idiot Agent Afloat had let the Lieutenant escape before Gibbs and Tony could arrest him and send him home in cuffs. The only good thing to come from that debacle was the fact that Ziva would be on the Seahawk and out of her hair for the duration of this assignment.

The contact that had just left was resourceful and would be able to find the missing officer. Eve grinned. Once he found the man he was going to give Tony and Gibbs a tip on the traitor's location. She reached for the drink sitting in front of her and took a sip. Yes, she mused silently, it was good to have friends.

* * *

Tony and Gibbs sat across from each other in the small restaurant. Ziva had already taken herself to the _Seahawk_, and they had been looking for Jason Mannon nonstop, and had finally stopped to eat a meal in self defense. They had little hope of finding him in the teeming city, but were going to keep trying until they were forced to leave for their next location in Morocco.

As they sat there enjoying some coffee and rest when a slightly shady character sidled up to their table and wordlessly sat down. He gave Tony a hard stare and finally said,

Señor DiNozzo, I am a friend of a friend. I have some information for you about a certain missing Americano. Do you want to know this?

Tony frowned for a second and slid his eyes to Gibbs. He could tell that his boss was intensely curious about the supposed information that this stranger seemed to possess. Finally he said, "How do you know my name?"

"As I said, I am the friend of a friend. Many people in this city know who you are because of this friend."

Tony leaned back in his chair and gave an incredulous look to his and Gibbs' companion."

Gibbs could no longer keep silent and finally burst out with, "Who the hell is this friend? Do they have a name?"

"Of course they do, but we don't speak of it." The man gave Gibbs an insolent stare as he sat at the table.

Tony finally took the hint and switched to Spanish so they could speak freely.

"_What information do you have for me?"_

"_I have seen the man you seek. He was at the market earlier today. He is looking for documents to leave the country. Roberto, the Specialist, is visiting his mother this week, and will not be back until tomorrow evening. You should have plenty of time to catch this one."_

"_Why are you helping me this way?"_

"_I owed her a favor. She saved my son's life two years ago. I was glad to help her."_

"_Her?"_

_The man smiled at Tony and nodded his head. "Yes…" her", La__ Tigresa__. She said you needed help finding this man."_

He stood and gave another smile before slinking out of the restaurant.

Gibbs turned to Tony and demanded, "Well, are you going to tell me what the hell this is about?"

"Yeah, Boss, he saw Mannon in the market today. He's looking to buy documents to leave the country. The man he needs to see is not in town until tomorrow evening, so the Lieutenant is going to be cooling his heels waiting. We should have a window to pick him up before he can purchase any exit documents."

"Well, why the hell would he help us that way?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say that Eve talked to Director Maxwell and found out what was going on here and decided to give us a hand. She does have contacts all over this city. Don't forget I was here with her last year."

"I'll be damned. Good job, DiNozzo. Let's go to the market and catch our man."

"On your six, Boss!"

* * *

Eve leaned over the roof of the outdoor market and watched carefully through her scope. The market was huge and had stores of every description. When she had lived in the city she had enjoyed shopping here for food and essentials every day.

She knew that Roberto the document specialist operated out of an electronics shop. She had found Tony and Gibbs as they carefully went from stall to stall looking for their man. She spotted Mannon slowly making his way to the electronics shop. As he got closer she could see the moment that Gibbs and Tony spotted him. Mannon ran and they pursued like a pair of hunting dogs. The chase ended far too quickly when Tony hit the sailor with a flying tackle that carried both men over a table top and into a display of shoes. Her finger tightened on her trigger as the crowd formed around the struggling men, and Eve breathed a sigh of relief when Tony stood, seemingly unharmed and helped Gibbs cuff the suspect. As they drug the man away she put her firearm away and left the roof, ready now for her next stop in Morocco.

* * *

Gibbs and Tony very gratefully handed their prisoner to the Marine MPs waiting at the airfield. The two burly men were going to escort the prisoner back to DC and return custody to NCIS. They both were exhausted, and Tony was sporting a long shallow cut on his neck that he received when he and Mannon went head first into the table. They walked over to the jet that was transporting their group to Casablanca and boarded.

Tony settled into his seat and rubbed his hands over his face. He was exhausted and ready for this mission to be finished. All he wanted to do was go back home and sleep for a week or two. He carefully traced the long scratch on his neck, relieved that it wasn't deep. It was sore as hell, though. As he closed his eyes to nap he wondered just what Eve was up to, and how she had possibly known that he and Gibbs were looking for Mannon.

* * *

Eve and Kort were enjoying Morocco. They had found a small hotel in the Old Medina, and were taking turns napping while they waited for the others to catch up to them. Eve had been to the city several other times in the past, and she had several contacts that would be helpful in finding the next target. He was Stephen Moore; a former British Agent who had joined Davis' organization after seeing how much money was to be made by selling weapons and secrets on the open market. She had spoken to a contact in Interpol and found out that they had active warrants for Moore's arrest. She had laughed out loud upon hearing that fact. Once she got done with him there would be no need for Interpol to bother anymore.

Her cell phone rang, and she answered it quickly so as not to wake Trent who was napping. She listened for a minute then hung up quickly. She looked at her partner who was sleeping. She shook her head and scribbled a note before quietly leaving the room.

She settled herself in a small café in the old section of town and waited. A couple of minutes later a blonde in her mid thirties slid in the chair across from Eve who simply took a sip of her coffee and waited until her companion settle herself before speaking.

"Why is MI5 interested in what's going on here?"

"Why? Obviously because you're here; The Company doesn't send you anywhere unless something big is going on. We're not oblivious to the goings on across the pond. We realize that Jeff Davis went rogue and you were instrumental in taking him down. Now, why don't you tell me what you're doing here?"

Eve gave a low chuckle and stood, "Not happening. You can always try to take me into custody, but… well…you'd better make sure that you've paid your life insurance up because I'm not going quietly. If I catch any of your people trying to follow me I'll make sure they regret it. Back off. I'm not joking." She stood and walked out of the café leaving her stunned companion behind.

* * *

Gibbs sat beside Davis in a small park located in the Old Medina and watched the people pass by. Tony was standing behind them as they waited for the arrival of Stephen Moore, a former British Intelligence Officer and current member of Davis' organization. After what happened to the contact they met they were prepared for any contingency.

Suddenly a tall dark haired man materialized beside them and said, "Jeff, what are you doing here? You weren't supposed to contact anyone until the heat was off again."

Davis gave his colleague a smirk and said, "Things change. Are you hearing any chatter out there about Carlos?"

"About Carlos, no. You…well that's a different story. I heard you made an enemy of someone you should have really steered clear of. I also heard that she's looking for revenge."

"If that were true I'd be dead by now. Don't worry about it. Now, did you bring my information?"

"Yes, did you bring my money?"

"Of course." Davis nodded at Gibbs who handed Moore an envelope fat with money. "Our business is concluded. Don't spend it all in one place."

"Thanks, Mate. You needn't worry, I'm retiring now. You'll never hear from me again. Take care of yourself." He smiled and began to walk away.

Gibbs and Tony signaled the FBI agents to come and again surround Davis while they carefully followed Moore.

* * *

Eve and Kort slid carefully through the crowd. They spotted Moore immediately, but also saw his tail. They fell back to follow and wait for the call to come that would give them the green light. Kort's phone vibrated.

"Yes." His voice was short and to the point.

_"You have the green light. Take him out."_

"Sir, we have a complication. NCIS is following the target."

_"Deal with the complication however you see fit; you just make sure that the target is neutralized."_

"Yes Sir, hold the line for confirmation."

Kort turned to look at his companion. She was watching their target and his tale closely looking for an opening. "Eve, they say to deal with the complication however you see fit. Take out the target. They're waiting for confirmation."

She nodded and slowly made her way forward. Before she reached her target she carefully wrapped a scarf around her head so it completely covered her hair. Once that was done she blended into the crowd since she resembled one of the local women. She sidled up to Moore very methodically so that she was walking right beside him. He turned his head to smile at his new companion. She took advantage of his distraction to reach for her belt knife and hide it carefully at her side. Eve then forced herself to stumble so he would reach out to catch her. As soon as his arms reached out to stop her from falling she forcefully jammed her knife in his neck, severing his carotid artery. He fell immediately, his hand tangling in her scarf and pulling it off her head. She snatched herself away from him so she could disappear from the footsteps she heard rapidly approaching. Once she managed to escape she turned to watch and found herself looking right into a pair of familiar green eyes.

* * *

Tony raced to the side of the man they had wanted to try and apprehend for a conversation. He knew as soon as he watched the man fall that he was dead, but he was completely unprepared to see the assassin making her escape. He watched the retreating figure, frozen in place as he recognized the dark hair tumbling down her back and the curve of her face. His suspicions were confirmed when she turned around and he found himself looking directly into the unrepentant eyes of Eve Dupree.


	12. Getting Ahead

You know the drill by now. I don't own them. I really wish I did because then I'd make sure that Gibbs finally gave Tony some respect and the Team would actually act like a team again. I should be working on the project for my final exam, but since I've been feeling bad today, you get another chapter… Enjoy!

Getting Ahead

_With lies you may get ahead in the world - but you can never go back. -- Russian proverb_

* * *

Tony didn't think about the ramifications of his actions when he saw her standing there. He simply ran forward and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the fallen man. "What the _fuck _are you doing here?!" He was furious, and in his anger, he gripped her arm tightly, his fingers digging painfully into her arm.

She didn't struggle, just looked at him and hissed, "Not here…If you want to rage at me we need to go somewhere private. Let's find a hotel."

He pulled her through the streets and into the lobby of a dingy hotel. He quickly registered under an alias and threw some cash at the clerk. A few minutes later he pushed her inside the room and slammed the door behind them.

"Now, tell me exactly what the fuck is going on here. I don't want any more of your bullshit lies…Tell. Me. The. Truth."

"Exactly what truth do you want to hear? Do you want to hear that I'm doing my job, or that I had to lie to you to do it?"

"Eve, don't play games with me. Did you shoot Carlos Ayella?"

"Yes. I was ordered to kill him and all of Davis' other associates."

Tony closed his eyes, pain evident in his voice when he asked, "Why?"

"Does it matter?" She ran her hands through her hair and watched him carefully.

He snapped his gaze over to the bed and crossed the room in two strides and sat on the bed next to her. "Yes it matters." He took her face in his hands and looked directly into her eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

"Tony, I love you…that aside, I can't tell you what I'm doing. It's a classified op; the only people who know are the ones involved. Don't you think I'd tell you if I could?"

He saw the determination in her eyes and shook his head. "I can't believe you lied to me."

Eve stood abruptly and stalked across the room. Finally she turned and exclaimed, "_Jesus fucking Christ_ I can't believe you! Don't do this. You knew what I was…what I did…I've always been honest about that. I didn't tell you because I couldn't. I love you and I will do whatever I have to do to make sure you're protected."

"I don't need protection."

"Do you have any idea what's going to happen if they find out we've spoken? At the very least I'm dead, but most likely we're both dead in a shallow grave somewhere." She began to pace the room, mumbling to herself. Her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and stared hard at Tony. "Keep your mouth shut." She answered quickly, "Dupree."

"_Where are you?" _

"Hiding until the heat is off. It's done. I'll be back soon."

"_Were you seen?"_

"No, of course not; I'm clear. Call in the report; I'll see you as soon as I think it's safe."

"_Fine. See you soon."_

She hung up the phone and looked at him again. "See what I…Tony…_please_…walk away from this and go back to your assignment."

He stood and walked over to the lone window and stared out into the courtyard below. After what seemed like an eternity he turned back around and swallowed before he finally said, "Come here." She didn't move, so he held out his arms to her. "Evie, come here."

She slowly crossed the room and stood as close to him as she could without touching him. She raised her eyes to him and whispered, "What…"

Slowly he finally folded her into his arms and rested his cheek on her head. "I love you…I hate it that you lied to me, but I understand why. Can you at least tell me what the endgame is here?"

"I shouldn't, but I will. Davis is the endgame. The company wants him neutralized, and once he's given up all of his contacts I get to retire him."

Tony digested that bit of information until his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. "DiNozzo."

"_Where the hell did you disappear to?"_

"Sorry Boss…I…was trailing someone who looked a bit suspicious. I lost him in the crowd. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"_Damn it DiNozzo! You know better than to go off on your own like that. Now I want you to get your ass back here and get ready; we're traveling back to the States tomorrow. Our next naval officer is on leave, and is in New York."_

"Gotcha. I'll be back soon." Tony snapped his phone closed and sighed. "Gibbs."

She sighed heavily and said, "I gathered. I've got to get back before Kort gets suspicious."

Tony felt a twinge of jealousy; he really hated Kort with a passion. "You're here with Kort! I can't believe that!"

"Trust me; I didn't have a choice in the matter. Please promise me you'll be careful. Don't stay too close to Davis. I'm not the only one after him, and I don't want you in the crossfire when his enemies finally decide to show themselves."

"I've got Gibbs watching my six; I'll be fine. You be careful; you've got Kort which really means you're on your own. Gibbs said we're heading back to New York."

"Well, I guess that means that I am too." She hugged him fiercely. "I love you."

He kissed her quickly and smirked when he said, "I know you do. Now get out of here."

She rolled her eyes at his dig and said, "I'll be in touch…now that you know…there's no reason not to." She slipped from the room.

Tony waited a few minutes and followed, heading back to his own hotel and Gibbs.

* * *

Gibbs stared at his phone after he and DiNozzo disconnected their call. There was something wrong with Tony. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he'd seemed a bit hinky on the phone. Gibbs took a drink of the strong coffee sitting on the table before him and went over the facts again, two contacts and two successful hits. Someone wanted Davis' contacts gone, and Gibbs could guess, without too much effort, who that someone was. The Agency definitely had their own game plan that didn't include helping NCIS or the FBI with their problems. He and DiNozzo were going to have to have a long talk when he got back. Tony was too close to the CIA for his comfort, and he really wanted to know exactly where and with whom his second had been.

Tony's arrival to their double room was heralded only by the opening of the door and his almost silent entrance. He sat across from Gibbs at the small table and said nothing for a few minutes.

"Sorry I disappeared on you like that."

"Don't apologize…"

"It's a sign of weakness; I know that Boss. Still, I should know better."

Gibbs leaned over and gave Tony a light head slap. "You're damn right you should know better. Now, are you going to tell me what happened…the truth this time and not that crap you were spewing on the phone?"

"Ah…I told you…"

"You were trailing a suspect. Bullshit! Truth…NOW!"

Tony finally said, "Nothing to tell, Boss." He grabbed a pad and scribbled, _we can't talk here. could be overheard._

Gibbs nodded in understanding and said loudly, "Come on, DiNozzo…I'll buy you a coffee."

The two men quickly left the small room and headed down the narrow street towards a café, once they were seated in a corner and served Gibbs leaned forward and said, "Now just what the hell is going on?"

Tony quickly looked around to make sure they weren't being observed before he quickly whispered, "I know who hit Ayella and Moore."

"Well are you going to tell me or are you going to make me guess?"

"Boss…I can't tell you. Can't you just trust me?"

Gibbs took a deep breath and hissed it out between clinched teeth. "Tony…"

"I know…it's hard to take that on faith. I will tell you this; it's a black op and top secret."

"Oh Christ!" Gibbs felt the acid pour into his stomach and start to burn a hole through its lining. "It's Eve isn't it?"

Tony said nothing, just stared at Gibbs then lowered his eyes.

Gibbs took that as a very definitive yes and all he could say was, "Shit!"

* * *

Trent was sitting in the hotel room waiting patiently when Eve finally opened the door and entered. "It took you long enough to get here. Where've you been?"

She turned emerald green eyes full of fire towards him and snapped, "I was waiting until the coast was clear. I have absolutely no desire to spend any time in a Moroccan jail. Why, did you miss me?"

He let that comment pass then turned back to the mission at hand. "I received word we're traveling first to New York where Davis will meet his final Navy contact. From there we will intercept his terrorist. I do have his name…it was on the documents Moore passed before you got to him. We're looking for Dr. Kareem Ahmed. He's a Saudi national but lives in the United States on an H-1 visa. He's got Ph.D.s in Chemistry and Engineering, and he's been working here for the last couple of years. Our new Intel tells us he's the head of a cell of homegrown terrorists and he's in Washington DC of all places."

"Why don't we just go to DC and take him out and leave NCIS to catch the last sailor?"

"No, our instructions stand. We go to New York first and oversee the pick-up and provide tactical support if needed. They're afraid of an ambush."

"In New York? I would have worried more about that here than at home."

"No, for some reason they're worried Davis will have someone come after him. He's made a lot of enemies in the intelligence community over the years. Ahmed may send someone to kill him."

Eve finally asked the question that was burning in her mind. "Will NCIS be told of the risk? Please tell me they're not going in blind."

"Eve…The Company is not sharing that information with anyone. We need NCIS, FBI and even our own people to handle this just as they have every other meeting. We can't let anyone be suspicious that we know anything."

"You're joking, right?"

"No…and neither is the director."

Eve quickly thought through her options; she had a couple. First she could do nothing and let the chips fall where they would. That wasn't acceptable since Tony and Gibbs were at risk, so she turned her mind to option two. She could find a way to warn Tony and Gibbs and pray her agency didn't kill her for it. That seemed to have the better chance of a positive outcome since there was no way in hell that she was going to let Tony go into this blind and unprotected. Even if it went bad for her…well, she had planned for that contingency a long time ago by hiding money and everything she would need for a new identity in her apartment at Calle Ocho. Once she and Tony had become involved she had hidden documents for him as well; it had seemed prudent at the time, and she was grateful for her foresight now.

She turned her gaze back to Trent and smiled. "Okay. Not a problem."

He looked satisfied and leaned back in his chair. "So, are you going to tell me where you were all afternoon?"

Eve rolled her eyes at him and snarked, "I got laid. You should try it sometime."

Kort chuckled and picked up the newspaper. "That's my girl…that whole 'committed relationship' doesn't become you at all."

Eve said nothing, but simply turned her back and stared out the window in silence.

* * *

Jeff Davis sat in his small hotel room with his guard and stared at the wall. First Carlos then Stephen killed after meeting with him. He was sure that The Agency had an assassination team following their every move. Could Stephen have been right? Was Eve Dupree even now on his trail? If John were going to send someone then she would be it. He felt a knot of cold fear form in his stomach. If it were she then he had no chance in hell of making it out of here alive. He knew her reputation, and knew she would follow him to the ends of the earth if he was her target. He swore silently. Well, maybe he could turn the tide in his favor a bit. He did have Agent DiNozzo at arm's length. She wouldn't hurt DiNozzo…not in a million years. Now, all he had to do was find a way to contact his ace in the hole. He had a contact that he'd not told anyone about, and that person would be able to free him and snatch DiNozzo in the process… Yeah, his game was not done…Not by a long shot.

* * *

Tony settled back into the plane for the long journey back to New York and closed his eyes. He hated waiting to taxi to the runway; it was the longest part of any plane trip. At least his part in this fiasco was almost over, and he and Gibbs would be able to return to DC with their prisoner and go back to the quiet life of catching bad guys. He'd once been enthralled by the spy game, but after spending so much time with Eve he had come to realize how seamy and corrupt it could become. He sighed and finally admitted that he was worried that she wasn't going to make it out of this op alive, and, if she did, would he ever really trust her completely again. He knew and understood why she'd done it, but it didn't make it easier to accept. Knowing the truth was simply knowledge not acceptance. Acceptance would have to come later after much reflection and discussion.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he opened it up to see a text message. _Text me as soon as you land. I have Intel. Very Impt. _

Tony gave another sigh and closed his phone. Apparently she had found something out, and something told him that it wasn't good. He'd known that this assignment was going to suck!

* * *

Eve smirked to herself as she closed the burn phone and hid it in her clothes. There was no way in hell that anyone was going to find out what she was doing if she could help it. Tony would be warned and she would still get her man…men…one way or another. Ahmed and Davis were both dead men walking; they just didn't know it yet.

She settled into her seat across from Trent and accepted the bottle of water from him with no comment. He was going to be a problem. It might be time to send him back to John. Now that they were home there was no need to have him following her around. Hmmm…yes, she really did need to make a phone call as soon as they landed.

* * *

Kareem Ahmed looked at the room full of his faithful followers and picked the ones he wanted in New York to meet Jeff Davis. The man had been careless and had allowed himself to be captured by the FBI. He was a liability that Ahmed's cell could not afford to have walking around. A well placed sniper would do the trick nicely. With that thought in mind he picked out a group of five men to handle this problem. Once Davis was handled he could turn his attention to his big project. He had spent the last two years working at a chemical engineering firm and had created the perfect form of plastic explosive. It left no trace, and he had decided to test his new invention on something big and very public.

Picking the perfect target was such a problem…he wanted something that would guarantee a high number of fatalities and low risk for his people. It was difficult but not insurmountable. He would find it, and when he did…Fire would rain down on the citizens of the United States; they would get what they deserved…Finally.

* * *

John Maxwell looked at the intelligence reports that had been coming his way constantly in the past few hours. Ahmed was planning an attack in Washington within the next few days. He was going to have to up his time table and make sure that New York went off without a hitch so he had all of his people back in DC in time to stop what could be a catastrophe in the making. He knew it was time for Dupree and Kort to show themselves to the team they had been following and give more direct assistance, but he couldn't risk it. Whatever they did was going to have to be off the books and high risk. He knew Dupree would go for it since Tony was involved…Kort, well, maybe it was time he called him back to start working on a solution to Ahmed. That seemed like a useful compromise, so he made a note to contact his team and have Kort report back to Langley as soon as possible.

* * *

Gibbs turned his head and saw that Tony was sleeping soundly, so he carefully removed his cell phone from his pocket and checked his messages. It only took him a second to find where Tony had received a cryptic text message from a number he didn't recognize. He knew who it was from, and he also knew that whatever was going on had his gut churning. Gibbs knew he had to trust in two things…Tony and his gut. Tony trusted Eve so Gibbs resolved to do try and do the same. Although, somehow he knew that he was going to end up with an ulcer before this Godforsaken assignment was finally over.

Christ he missed chasing murderers!

.


	13. Pure and Simple

Damn! I still don't own them. CBS…I really envy CBS.

I'm really sorry this has taken so long to get to you. I've been swamped with RL. The project for my final exam is due on Friday, and I've been deep into rewrites and proofreading. Hopefully now I'll be back to updating every couple of days again.

Things are beginning to heat up, so without further ado…here's the next chapter in our journey.

Pure and Simple

_The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple. -- Oscar Wilde_

* * *

Tony was not sleeping; rather he was in an almost meditative state as they traveled. He felt Gibbs slide the phone out of his pocket, and felt the slight sting of betrayal burn. He had told Gibbs everything, of course he hadn't said any names, but he had been plain enough, or at least he thought he had. He shifted slightly in the seat, and mumbled a bit under his breath; a burst of amusement canceled out the betrayal when he felt how quickly Gibbs replaced the phone in his pocket.

He hated these long flights, but they would be back on American soil soon enough. Once they finished in New York, NCIS' part in this drama would be over, so he and Gibbs would finally take their prisoner and return to Washington. It couldn't happen fast enough for him. This whole screwed up assignment had just reinforced in his mind that he was a cop and not a spy. Eve was the spy…Christ! He'd promised himself that he wouldn't think about her and her lies until this was over. Nonetheless, he finally let his mind wander over the woman he loved. He still felt betrayed that she had lied to him, not just once, but several times. He knew…even understood why she had, but it still hurt. Deep down, he knew that he'd find a way to forgive her, but after much reflection he'd decided that it was a real bitch loving someone who thought nothing of lying if they thought it would protect you.

Gibbs leaned back in his seat and watched DiNozzo sleep. They would be in New York in a couple of hours, and he knew that they both needed to catch a few hours of sleep before their arrival in the city. At least their part would soon be finished with the apprehension of Jonathan Dawson. Gibbs opened a folder and began to read about the intelligence officer who worked out of Norfolk and who had once a promising career in front of him. It was unfortunate that he'd gotten himself caught up in Davis' web, but what was done was done. He hated to see a good man go down, so Gibbs decided to talk to him and see if he would be willing to give evidence against Davis in return for a deal. Maybe they could all put this behind them once Davis was incarcerated. His entire team had been turned upside down since the beginning of this Op back in Ciudad Del Este and the capture of the arms dealer, Apollo.

They touched down in New York to find the city dreary, rainy but full of life. Tony followed Gibbs to the Hertz counter to pick up their prearranged rental before heading off to Brooklyn to pick up Dawson. Their Intel had him visiting his parents before returning to Norfolk next week. Neither he nor Gibbs was looking forward to taking the kid into custody, but they were both more than ready for NCIS to part ways with Jeff Davis, the FBI and most especially the CIA.

Once they were comfortably ensconced in their sedan, Tony finally turned to Gibbs and pierced him with a sharp gaze.

"What?" Gibbs spared him a modicum of attention before turning his eyes back to the heavy traffic.

"Did you find what you needed on my cell phone?"

Gibbs didn't even bother to look repentant when he replied, "Yeah. Yeah I did. You gonna tell me who the message was from?"

Tony rolled his eyes in exasperation; he was really tired of playing games with everyone. "You knew who it was from or you would've waked me up on the spot. You just want to hear me say it."

A small smile finally curved the corners of Gibbs' mouth and he replied, "Maybe I do. There's no one here…Spill it, DiNozzo."

"Jesus Christ, Boss. You _know_ that it's Eve. Who the hell else would it be? She's the one who hit both Ayella and Moore. She also sent the informant who clued us in to Mannon's whereabouts. She's been pulling the strings during this entire trip. Hell, she's neck deep in this thing, and I don't know what to do about it."

Gibbs had been paying rapt attention to Tony's explanation and finally stirred himself to ask, "Did she tell you what the endgame is for The Agency?"

"Yeah she told me. She's been instructed to take out the terrorist behind this whole nightmare."

"And Davis?"

Tony paused before answering. There was no way he was going to tell Gibbs that his lover was planning to kill Davis. He was certain that Gibbs would understand…after all, orders were orders, but still, something held him back. "Nada, Boss. She didn't tell me a thing."

"Text her that we're on the ground and find out what new Intel she has for us. Better yet, call her if you can."

Tony gave a brief nod and pulled out his phone. He quickly dialed the number and waited. She finally answered on the third ring.

"_Yeah."_

"What have you got for me?"

She gave a low, throaty chuckle and finally said, "_What don't I have for you? Actually, when you go to pick up your passenger please dress warmly and be very careful. It would be best if you stayed as far away from the asset as possible since he has fleas. Got it?"_

"Got it. Are you safe?"

"_For now. I'm getting ready to call home and get new instructions. I'll let you know what they happen to be."_

"I'll see you back in DC."

"_Later." _

The phone went dead in his hand and he turned to Gibbs. "We need to find somewhere to stop so we can put our vests on. From her cryptic instructions I think she's worried someone is going to take a shot at us. She also recommends we stay away from Davis. She said 'he's got fleas.' I'm not sure, but I wonder if she thinks someone is going to try and hit him."

That's good work Tony. As soon as we pick up our guy we're heading back to DC; screw Davis. The FBI and CIA can handle him. This assignment can't end fast enough for me."

* * *

Eve sat alone in the small café and hung up her burn phone. Just hearing his voice made her feel better. She knew he was furious with her for lying, but she knew that he would ultimately forgive her. Knowing that didn't make her any happier about the fact that she'd been forced to lie to the one person who knew and accepted her for what she was. It was time for the curtain to come down on this little play. She reached for her agency phone and quickly dialed her Director. She had a feeling that it was time to go back to Washington and make her final play. Once that was done then maybe she and Tony could get on with their lives.

Fifteen minutes later Eve left the café to rendezvous with Kort and give him an update him on their new objective. They were to make themselves known to the security detail on Davis and get everyone on the same page. Intel reports were coming in hourly now, and she was certain that the agents involved in this operation had not heard the most recent. Once that was completed they were to hightail it back to DC and take out Ahmed before he could implement his plan. The Agency's mole inside Ahmed's operation was finally notified of the final target. She knew that Homeland Security and the rest of the alphabet soup had been notified of the details as they were currently known. She sighed and glanced at Trent as he navigated their vehicle through the streets. She really needed a vacation.

Tony shifted in his seat as Gibbs rocketed thorough the crowded streets. He was driving as fast as the traffic would allow, and the close calls kept DiNozzo gripping the door handle with white knuckles. His cell phone rang and he reached for it with numb fingers.

"DiNozzo."

"_Stop your convoy at the Diner Restaurant; it's on Broadway in Brooklyn. We need to talk, all of us."_

"What's going on?"

"_Not on the phone. You're Director should be calling Gibbs right about now though."_

Tony heard the ring of his Boss' cell phone and stifled a grin.

"How the hell do you do that?"

"_It's a gift. The situation has changed…become a bit more urgent. Leave a Fibbie and one of mine with Davis and the rest of you come inside. Fornell will be meeting us there."_

"Fornell!"

"_Yeah. Kort and l will see you there."_

The phone went dead in his ear and he turned to Gibbs who was watching him with a contemplative gaze. "What did she tell you?"

"We need to stop at the Diner Restaurant in Brooklyn and regroup. Apparently Fornell will be there."

"Yeah, Leon said the same thing. It looks like things are going to get interesting. You ready, DiNozzo?"

Tony gave a brief nod and a smile. "I was born ready, Boss."

* * *

Tobias Fornell sat at the corner table that he'd commandeered and waited. Patience was a virtue in his line or work, and he knew that his companions would be arriving soon enough. He sighed mightily as he contemplated the intelligence reports that his director had shared with him; things were going to get very bloody very soon unless they could put a stop to it. Fornell glanced out of the window and watched Gibbs' car skid into the parking lot and the two men depart. It was followed by an SUV with the prisoner who was guarded by two CIA Operatives and two FBI Agents. One of each of the agents followed Gibbs and DiNozzo inside the dining area. Now, they would be able to get this show on the road.

Gibbs took a seat beside his friend and glanced at Fornell out of the corner of his eye. "You gonna tell us what's going on here?" His tone was matter of fact as he spoke.

"In due time, Jethro. Just be patient, if you can."

Tony smirked into his class of iced tea and waited. He wondered if he was the only person who knew that Eve and Kort were going to appear. He took a sip, savoring the flavor of the tea mixed with the sharp tang of the lemon he'd added while he waited for her to appear. He didn't have too long to wait.

The group was just getting started when a voice said from beside the table, "You starting without us, Fornell. That's not nice."

Four of the five men looked up, startled by the words. Tony merely moved his chair to make room for her and Kort to join the group.

"What are you doing here, Agent Dupree? The last I heard you were on assignment in South America."

"Kort and I were sent here by our Director. We have new Intel we need to share, and we have new instructions. Your directors will be calling each of you directly…except for you…" Her laser like gaze focused on the CIA Agent sitting at the table. "Your orders come from me, and I expect you to follow them."

The young agent, not long out of his training, looked at the black-haired woman sitting beside Agent DiNozzo. He'd heard rumors about her…that she was as good as an assassin as the Agency had ever turned out…that she had been captured and tortured by the man outside in the SUV…and that she and Agent DiNozzo were involved somehow. He decided that now was not the time to seek truth. He nodded his head in compliance. "Yes Ma'am. Just tell me what you want me to do."

"Good. Go outside and assist with the prisoner. Fornell, send your other man out. This briefing is just between senior staff."

Fornell nodded his head at the agent sitting at the table and waited until the man left. "Okay, we're alone here. What do you have for us?"

Eve turned to Kort and nodded. "Lay it out, Trent."

Trent Kort took a quick sip of the water glass sitting in front of Eve then gave each man at the table a steady stare. "Ahmed is planning to hit a target in Washington tomorrow. We have new orders to return to DC ASAP and prepare a counter strike. Dawson has received orders to return to Norfolk immediately. He'll be in DC, and we can arrest him there. The priority is stopping this attack."

Gibbs leaned forward in his chair. "Target." His question was blunt and quick.

Eve sighed and replied quietly, "Our Intel tells us that the target is the peace rally taking place tomorrow in the National Mall. There are thousands expected to be in attendance since there will be presenters from all faiths there. This new explosive is undetectable, so it won't take much for a suicide bomber to get in there and blow himself and a lot of other people up."

Tony sat back in shock. Sometimes the utter cruelty of fanatics never ceased to amaze him. He felt her thigh press against his, so his hand slowly found hers under the table and he laced their fingers together. She gave his hand a comforting squeeze and watched the men at the table.

"Well Gentlemen, what do you want to do? Kort and I have our jet sitting ready at JFK. We had them refuel in preparation for a quick return to DC. Shall we go?"

The only answer she got was the entire group standing in unison. Tony released her hand reluctantly as he stood. Eve dropped a few bills on the table for the wait staff and followed the rest of the group out the door.

She began to follow the NCIS Agents, but her attention was caught by the black SUV sitting beside the rental sedan Tony and Gibbs were walking towards. She changed direction and walked right up to the back window of the vehicle. Gibbs caught sight of her momentum and sighed to himself.

"Oh Crap." He grabbed Tony's arm and forced his attention to the SUV and the show taking place inside.

Eve said nothing to the Agents guarding Davis. The two FBI men walked a short distance away to grab a smoke and the two CIA operatives gave her a respectful nod. They had no intention of stopping her from whatever it was she intended to do, so after a quick glance at each other they simply opened the vehicle's door. She smiled at the man sitting cuffed in the back seat, but the expression was cold and filled with death.

"Long time, no see, Jeff." Her gaze was filled with anticipation as she watched him start at the sound of her voice.

"I see you missed me and all of that time we spent together." Bravado filled the voice of the bound man.

"Miss you? Of yeah…like I'd miss plague or pestilence. You and I have things to discuss…not here though. Once we're back in DC I really need to spend some _quality_ time with you."

"John won't allow it." Unease had begun to fill his voice as he listened to her speak.

Eve lowered her lashes and gave him an almost flirtatious look. "We'll see…"

She turned to walk away, swallowing convulsively against the bile in her throat. That had been the first time she had been face to face with her rapist, and it hadn't been easy. Tony grabbed her arm and pulled her towards his vehicle.

"Just what the hell was that about?" His tone was both angry and confused all at once.

She turned her emerald gaze up to his and took a deep breath. "I had to see if I could face him. If I can't do that then I can't do my job."

Tony pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "How'd you do?"

She chuckled darkly, "Well, I didn't puke."

He gave a sad smile and pulled her into the back seat of the car with him whilst Gibbs took the wheel and Fornell rode in the passenger seat on the way back to the airport.

Thirty minutes later the group was airborne on their way back to Washington. Davis who was sitting cuffed beside his FBI handlers was uncharacteristically quiet as he watched the interaction between all of the players on the plane. He didn't know exactly why they had aborted arresting Dawson, but something big was in the works, of that he was certain. His light blue gaze fell on the woman sitting beside Agent DiNozzo. She was going to kill him. He'd read between the lines when she'd confronted him earlier. She had no intention of letting him live longer than absolutely necessary. He supposed he should be afraid of death, but he couldn't seem to muster up the enthusiasm to bother. He decided his only hope was to get a meeting with the Marshall Service and offer up some fresh Intel for a spot in the Witness Relocation Program. Hmmm… now that was an idea.

* * *

Ahmed sat silently with his followers and prepared to pray. They were getting ready to send one of their own on a mission to bring glory to Allah and recognition to their cause. Tomorrow… the peace rally was going to become one large, bloody explosion.


	14. Burning Clean

I am so tired of having to admit I don't own them. It's depressing, really depressing. It's too bad since I'm sure I could think of lots of things for Gibbs and the Gang to get into. Oh well…It never hurts to dream.

Did I mention last chapter that things are heating up? Yeah… here we go!

Burning Clean

_Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean. -- __Maya Angelou  


* * *

_The arrival of the flight back in Washington was uneventful. All on board the plane were glad to see the Washington skyline as they finally arrived home. They were all on edge with the knowledge that a terrorist attack was imminent, and so they headed to their respective agencies to get the latest Intel and prepare plans to stop the attack.

A short drive later Gibbs and DiNozzo found themselves walking into the familiar lobby of their home away from home. Entering the bullpen they found it buzzing with activity and Ziva sitting at her desk talking on the phone in fluent Arabic and McGee typing rapidly on his computer keyboard.

Ziva finished her conversation and turned to the new arrivals.

"Good morning, I trust you had a good flight."

Gibbs ignored the question and instead asked one of his own. "I thought you were on the _Seahawk_."

"The Director recalled me once we realized the gravity of the threat. He thought I would be able to do more good here."

Gibbs nodded in agreement. "Glad you're back, Ziver."

Tony slumped in his desk and fought the urge to put his head down and sleep. Jet lag was dragging at every fiber of his being. He felt a light tap on the back of his head.

"DiNozzo, go ahead and find a place and lay down before you pass out from jet lag. I'm going to get some coffee." He walked from the room on a mission to caffeinate himself and Tony finally allowed his head to drop on his desk. His voice was muffled when he finally spoke.

"I feel dead."

Ziva snorted in amusement and McGee just shook his head as his fingers fairly flew across his keyboard.

* * *

Leon Vance sat at a conference table filled with agency heads. He turned his head and quietly nodded a greeting to John Maxwell and Edward Morris, the director of the FBI. He also noticed the director of FEMA and the head of Homeland Security. The heads of the ATF and the Marshal Service also sat and quietly sipped coffee as they waited for the Director of National Intelligence to appear for the briefing. He finally entered accompanied by his aide and sat quickly. He turned his sharp gaze to every person sitting at the table and asked quietly, "Do we have a plan to stop this attack?"

Director Morris leaned forward, "We have over a hundred agents ready to go at a moment's notice. We've been sharing Intelligence with Director Maxwell, and I think we've got the most up to date reports." He paused for a second and continued. "John, what does your mole say?"

"The attack is definitely planned for the peace rally. He has no way to let us know who will be chosen to wear the bomb, since that determination won't be made until the last possible second. I have several of my operatives prepared to assist in whatever way necessary to stop this bombing from happening."

The DNI turned a speculative gaze to Maxwell then asked, "These agents would be Dupree and Kort?"

"Among others, all of my people want this stopped. I'm willing to assign them TAD to whatever agency you deem most appropriate so no one will accuse us of operating in country."

The DNI nodded in agreement and looked to each of the directors. I expect all of you to play nice and share Intel with each other. Our goal is simple: we want to stop this bombing and prevent another. I expect to see some solid plans for rescue and recovery in the event we can't stop this from happening. Now, you're all dismissed, let's meet again in two hours, and I want to hear some concrete plans to stop this thing from happening."

Everyone stood up and began to leave the room. The DNI stopped one before he could slip from the room. "John, hold on one second."

John Maxwell sat back down in his chair and looked at his supervisor. "What can I do for you, Sir?"

"I know what Agent Dupree is, and she's not a 'normal' operative. What is your endgame here?"

John leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table as he thought about the question. "Sir, our hope was to eliminate this threat completely. Agent Dupree has a certain skill set that makes her extremely valuable in that kind of op."

"John, don't play word games with me. Was Ahmed a target for assassination?"

"In a nutshell? Yes he was. Agent Dupree had orders to shoot him once we were certain that we had all of his domestic contacts. Jeff Davis gave us his international contacts and also gave us his Navy contacts. NCIS picked up one in Cartagena and the other is back in Norfolk. He will be picked up this afternoon at his office."

"You know that Davis' attorney has been speaking with the Marshal Service about going into WitSec. I think the U.S. Attorney's Office is amenable since he was instrumental in catching an entire network of domestic spies."

"Sir, he tortured one of our own. You can't be serious. He gets to live the quiet life in North Dakota or where ever WitSec puts him and she has to live with what was done to her."

The DNI inclined his head in appreciation of Maxwell's feelings on the subject as he replied, "Your agent is well trained, and she's already back at work. I think you're overreacting a bit."

Maxwell gritted his teeth to keep a respectful tone of voice as he replied. "Director, the only one who's might overreact is Eve Dupree when I tell her that Davis is going to live the high life at the expense of our government instead of spending the rest of his life in a cell."

"I understand John, I really do, however the President wants this issue gone. It's an embarrassment, and he isn't interested in the press picking up on it." He stood and walked to a water cooler and got a cup. Once he filled it and took a sip he turned back to his companion. "Now, I held you back to give you the green light to terminate Ahmed if your agent gets a shot. I want it done quietly and carefully. If the Intel is to be believed then he will be there to see the results first hand. I want to make sure he does not leave the area. Are we clear?"

Maxwell nodded his head in agreement. "Crystal"

"Thanks; you're dismissed. I'll see you back here in two hours for the briefing."

Maxwell stood and left the room quickly. He had a lot to set up and limited time to do it.

* * *

Abby sat quietly and watched as Tony slept. He had come down to her lab a couple of hours ago and passed out on her futon. She didn't begrudge him the sleep, but she was concerned that he hadn't moved so much as a millimeter in the entire time he'd been there. She knew that Gibbs would be making an appearance soon, so she finally sat down next to him and gently shook him awake.

"Tony… come on wake up."

He groaned and shifted until his head was lying in her lap. "Do I have to?" His voice was rough from sleep and slightly disgruntled at being awakened.

She smiled and slowly carded her fingers through his hair. "Yeah, Gibbs'll be looking for you pretty soon. The Director is supposed to brief all of us in about half an hour." She watched him carefully, his eyes were shadowed and so she asked, "What's wrong? Don't say 'nothing' 'cause I can tell that something's not right."

He averted his gaze from hers and took a deep breath. "I'm okay…just jetlagged."

"What happened while you were gone? I was worried, and I didn't hear from Eve either. Was she with you?"

Tony sat up abruptly. He was perplexed at her question. "Abbs, why would you expect to hear from Eve?"

Abby smiled happily at Tony and replied, "We talk on the phone at least every couple of days, and when you're busy we have lunch together."

He nodded slowly as he took that bit of information in. He hadn't realized that Abby and Eve had gotten so close. "I didn't know."

"I know. She's had a hard time since…well, you know. We can talk about it since we were there together. I don't think she's had many girlfriends since she works for…" Abby's voice dropped to a mere whisper, "The Company."

Tony snorted in amusement. She had said 'The Company' the way most people said 'the IRS. He wanted to ignore her but finally answered her first question. "She wasn't 'with me' but she was working." He went silent for a few minutes and picked up one of her small, pale hands and held it in his larger one. Finally he asked, "Abby, has anyone you loved ever lied to you on purpose?"

She gazed at him with wide eyes and shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

He dropped his eyes again then finally said, "I found out that she lied to me. I know why she did it, but…"

"Your feelings are still hurt." She finished his statement quietly.

"Yeah." His quiet confirmation tugged at her heartstrings. She decided to put a stop to this immediately.

"How long have you known what she does?" She asked the question in a completely innocent tone of voice.

He gave a small grin then answered, "Since the first week I met her. What does that have to do…?"

Abby went for the jugular. "Tony…Eve's a spy. She can't always tell what she does. I bet most of it is REALLY classified and she could probably lose her job or go to jail for talking about her assignments."

"That's true, but…"

"Let me finish. You've worked with her a lot, and you're used to hearing about the details of her assignments. Whatever this was, she obviously couldn't tell you." Abby squeezed Tony's hand then really went in for the kill. She was not going to allow his insecurity to sabotage his relationship. "I know you love her. You've told me a million times. I also know exactly how much she loves you."

He interrupted her. "How do you _know_? How do I know? She says she does…how do I know that it's not just another lie?"

"TONY! Stop that right now, Mister. I know because when we were in that room together and she thought she was going to die the only thing she could think about was _you_. She wanted me to take care of you and to make sure that you knew she loved you. Now, stop all of this self pity. We've got a terrorist to catch."

Gibbs had been standing in the doorway listening to the conversation and decided that this was an opportune moment to intervene. "Yeah we do. You awake, DiNozzo?"

"Yeah, Boss. Vance ready for us?"

Gibbs handed Tony a cup of coffee and said, "Let's go…time for our briefing."

"On your six." He stood and held out his hand for Abby. He pulled her up and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Abbs." He whispered quietly.

"Anytime…you know that."

They turned and headed towards MTAC following in Gibbs' wake.

* * *

Tobias Fornell turned to the newest member of his team and gave the woman an appraising stare. Her eyes met his and didn't waver as she stared right back. The other agents, deciding that there might be a confrontation, one by one stepped away from their volatile senior agent and the black haired woman standing across from him.

"Welcome to the FBI."

"How the hell did I end up working here and not for NCIS?"

Fornell smirked at her tone and replied, "Come on, Agent Dupree…none of the Directors wanted you working with DiNozzo on this one. You're too dangerous together."

She gave a half smile of agreement then looked at the crowd of agents in the meeting room. "Is there some reason they're avoiding us like the plague?" She allowed her gaze to span the room as she spoke.

"My people don't seem to have your backbone. They're worried I'm going to explode all over them. I don't know why they feel that way…" He looked genuinely surprised by the statement then quickly got back to business. "NCIS is going to have Gibbs on a nearby rooftop with a sniper rifle. Ziva and DiNozzo will be working the crowd, and McGee will be handling technical support. We're going to have a similar set up here. We have several snipers who will be coordinating with Jethro. You and Agent Sacks will be working the crowd together. We know that your Agency has a mole in Ahmed's cell. We need to know who he is and if you've had any contact with him recently?"

Eve narrowed her eyes and shrugged. "That's classified. You want that info then you get it from the DNI or Director Maxwell. You won't get it from me."

"We need to share intelligence Dupree."

She shook her head in disagreement. "We need to share _intelligence_, not _intelligence assets_. I'll give you hard data all day long, but I won't give you the name of any operative that _might _be working."

Agent Sacks walked up at that moment. He had already heard the rumors that they had a temporary agent assigned to their team for this operation. He was not looking forward to working with the newbie, especially one who was not even 'real FBI'.

Fornell watched the approach of his second in command and gave a brief smile. "Agent Sacks this is Agent Dupree. She's going to be working with you today."

She gave him a polite nod of her head and waited whilst he assessed her. Sacks finally gave her a smarmy smile and asked, "Which agency are you with?"

Eve sighed and replied, "I'm a training officer for the Company."

"A training officer? They're giving me a _training office_r for the biggest operation of the year?" Sacks' tone was condescending when he continued. "I suppose those who can't do…teach."

Eve smirked then snarked, "Once this operation is finished I'll be…glad…to show you just _exactly_ what I can do, Agent Sacks." Her tone was dismissive and she turned her gaze back to Fornell. "If we're finished with this briefing I'll take my leave. I'll be back two hours before we begin."

"And you're going where?"

"Classified…I'd tell you, but…well, you get the idea." She slipped from the room seemingly oblivious to the stares following her.

Sacks turned to his superior officer. "Sir, is there any reason you paired me with her?"

Fornell sighed and gave a tolerant stare to his subordinate. "Let me tell you something, Sacks, if this goes bad we want her on our side. She's very good."

Sacks snorted and finally spat, "She's a _training officer_. How good could she be? Not only that…I heard a rumor she's involved with DiNozzo. That really tells me all I need to know."

Fornell just shook his head. "She's assigned to you. Deal with it and make the best of it. Oh, don't antagonize her; I'd like to keep you in one piece."

"Give me a break. I'm an FBI Agent! I can take her with one hand tied behind my back."

Fornell gave a slight smile at his second's bravado. "Whatever you say. You're dismissed until two hours prior to commencement."

Sacks nodded and left the room. Fornell watched him go then pulled out his cell phone and made a quiet call to his director.

* * *

Ahmed sat alone, the dark of his room giving him time to meditate on the mission his people were about to carry out. They had been up the previous night getting the explosive vests ready and he had prayed with each of them. He had decided, but had not yet informed his people, that they were going to send two bombs into the rally. Two of the powerful bombs would kill even more of the traitors and infidels. He gave a smile and decided to let his second know about the change in plans. This was going to be a glorious day for his people and his _jihad_.

* * *

Gibbs drove silently. He had sent each of the team to their respective homes so they could prepare for the upcoming operation. Tony was dozing in the seat next to him as Gibbs drove towards his apartment.

Gibbs gave a sideways stare at his Senior Field Agent and wondered exactly what had happened in Morocco. Tony hadn't said anything, but Gibbs knew that something had hurt Tony; he could see it in the expressive green eyes. He silently pulled up to the curb and shook his companion awake.

"Up and at 'em, DiNozzo. You're home."

Tony gave a sleepy nod and replied, "Thanks for the ride."

"I'll see you back in the office in exactly two hours. This assignment is huge, so make sure that you've got your head on straight when you get here. Bring all of your back-up weapons; you might need them."

"Got it, Boss. I'll see you in two." He slid from the car and quietly walked in the building, his bag slung over one shoulder and his keys jangling in his free hand.

Gibbs watched him walk towards the door, never moving the car until he saw that Tony had actually entered the building. Only then did he leave and head towards his house to spend a couple of hours working on his boat and preparing for what was to come.

About fifteen minutes later he found himself in the basement, sandpaper in hand as he worked. There was something about working the wood that allowed him to completely clear his mind and concentrate on whatever problem was at hand. He was worried about the peace rally and the potential suicide bomber. All of the agencies involved as well the local LEOs were as prepared as they could be, but Gibbs knew in his gut that this was going to get bloody. As he sanded the boat he sent a vague prayer to whoever was up there to protect his team and all of the innocents who would be exposed to the violence and madness of a zealot.


	15. What Happens

I don't own them. Hey! The new season is starting in about four or so weeks. I'm excited…

Did I mention that this is heating up? I'm sure I did, but just in case…

Enjoy!

What Happens

_Experience is not what happens to a man: it is what a man does with what happens to him. -- __Aldous Huxley_

* * *

Eve entered the dark, silent apartment. She carefully surveyed her surroundings as was her wont before continuing into the main room. The only sounds she could hear were coming from the bedroom in the back of the dwelling. She could hear the low drone of the television that sat on top of the entertainment center, and when she entered the room her eyes immediately went to Tony's still form as he slept curled up on one side. She smiled softly to herself and took a deep breath, inhaling the faint scent of Tony's cologne. She dropped her bag in a heap by the closet and changed into one of his old, threadbare Ohio State t-shirts before joining him in their bed. She curled up facing him; he was sleeping peacefully, his deep, even breathing telling the tale of exactly how relaxed he really was. She watched him sleep for a few minutes, feeling her heart clinch. Eve knew that she would do whatever necessary to keep from losing him. She loved him, and he had become more vital than oxygen to her. She gently traced the planes of his face before leaning over to place a feather light kiss on his temple. He didn't stir, so she finally intertwined her fingers with his before closing her eyes and following him into the sandman's realm.

* * *

Tony awakened slowly not sure what had pulled him from sleep. The first thing he noticed was that he was not alone in the bed. Now, he had been sleepy and a bit out of it, but he was fairly certain that he had gone to bed by himself. He lay there for a minute taking an internal inventory and enjoying the way they lay spooned together in the middle of the king sized bed. He finally opened his eyes and gave a sad smile. It was a simple fact that no matter what happened or where they went apart they always ended up back together. He felt her stir and pulled her body more tightly to his, burying his face into the nape of her neck.

"Hey." His voice was soft, still rough with sleep.

She was silent for a moment savoring the feel of him holding her so close. She took a deep breath and spoke. "I'm sorry…sorry for all of it. I didn't want to ever lie to you. Tony, you're the one person in my life I never _had _to lie to. I ruined that and I'm sorry."

He listened to her apology and asked the question that had been tearing at him ever since he had seen her in Morocco. "Why?"

Eve pulled herself free and turned around to face him. She could see the hurt and confusion in his expressive gaze and decided to be as truthful as possible. "Tony, I've always gone my own way, done my own thing…well until us anyway. Once I knew that Davis had survived the stab wounds all I could think about was killing him…getting revenge for me, you, and especially…" She stopped suddenly, her voice breaking with emotion.

Tony finished the sentence for her…"our baby."

She nodded and felt tears slip down her cheeks. "I love you, Tony DiNozzo…more than I can ever show…but the thought of him walking around free consumed me. I couldn't let it go. Please…" Her voice took on an almost pleading tone as she continued, "…tell me you understand."

He reached out and caught one tear as it slid from her eyes, and gently wiped it away. "I understand."

Her breath hitched at his admission but she said nothing as she waited for him to continue.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest as he whispered into her hair, "I forgive you, and I love you too."

She felt herself go limp with relief. Her tears began to fall in earnest and he could feel them warm and damp against his skin. He whispered endearments into her hair and let her cry until she had no more tears. They lay there together wrapped around each other until the beeping of his cell phone forced them up from their sanctuary. They showered, dressed and walked from the apartment once again unified and ready to face whatever the future would bring.

* * *

Ahmed looked at his second in command and gave a brief smile in satisfaction. "We are prepared and the men are ready to go forth?"

His second gave him a piercing stare and nodded in reply. "Yes they are ready. I think that we need to have a moment of prayer with everyone before we undertake this glorious mission today."

Ahmed looked into the dark, liquid eyes of his second and inclined his head. He trusted this man more than anyone else on earth, so he finally said, "I agree, gather everyone together and let us pray."

Michael Rivkin nodded and turned to leave the room to rally the troops. He needed to let his CIA contact know that there would be two bombers and to do that he had to somehow escape long enough to make a phone call. Hopefully between the prayers and leaving for the rally he would be able to do that and send the pictures of the bombers to his contact. He was sure it could be done, but he was cutting it terribly close.

* * *

Gibbs, Fornell, and several other team leaders stood side by side as they watched their agents begin to ready themselves. The room was filled with over one hundred fifty agents from different agencies, and the atmosphere was tense as everyone realized that the day could have far reaching repercussions. Gibbs nodded at his counterparts and walked over to the group from the major case response team. Abby stood beside McGee since she had been recruited to assist him, and Ducky and Palmer were standing amongst a group of medical professionals from the different agencies and were rapidly taking inventory of their supplies and finally Ziva and Tony were putting on their vests and making sure their weapons were in order. Gibbs slowly picked up his rifle and stroked it lovingly as he made sure that everything was in order. His team was as prepared as it could be. Now the only question was whether or not they could find the bomber before he had an opportunity to detonate his device.

Eve stood in a quiet corner, her eyes trained on the group of FBI Agents she had been assigned to and her phone stuck to her ear as she listened to Michael Rivkin speak rapidly on the other end of the line. As soon as she heard that there was going to be two bombers she felt her blood go cold. Two bombers and the identity of one was all that was known since Ahmed was keeping the identity of the second secret from everyone including his 'trusted' second in command. She gripped the phone tighter and turned her back on the group of agents as she spoke.

"Are you certain?"

"_Yes. I have spoken to Ahmed himself. There will be two bombers, and thus far he has only given me the identity of one of them. I will forward you a picture for all of your agents to use for identification purposes."_

"Is Ahmed himself coming to the rally?"

"_That is his pattern. He likes to be on site to witness firsthand the destruction his attacks cause. Will you be retiring him?"_

"What do you think?"

He chucked softly on the other end of the line and replied, _"I will text you his location as soon as it is known. I will be in the crowd today looking for the second bomber."_

"I owe you one, Michael."

"_I will collect, Evangeline. Do not think for one second I won't."_

She disconnected the call and waited for the text with the picture to arrive. She immediately walked over to the group of agency directors as they watched the preparations take place. She stood next to John Maxwell and placed a hand on his forearm to catch his attention. He leaned over and she spoke quickly and quietly in his ear then, using her phone, sent the photo to him. He glanced at it, nodded to her then pulled the other directors to the side to share the information with them.

A few minutes after that, the Director of National Intelligence stood before the large group of federal agents and gave a last minute pep-talk. "Hello everyone. I know that this event has us all on edge, but we need to focus on stopping this tragedy before it can happen. You all have your instructions given by each of your directors. Thanks to a mole in Ahmed's organization we have a picture of one of the bombers. You are instructed to stop him by any means necessary. Unfortunately there is a second bomber and we do not…I repeat, do not know his identity. If we are given that Intel it will be passed on to you as quickly as possible. Keep your phones available. We want to keep as much radio silence as possible so as not to give away our positions. If you must speak do it quietly and as quickly as possible. Good luck to all of you and Godspeed." He stepped away from the podium and stood beside his aide. The agents present gave him a loud round of applause then turned to their individual team leaders. The moment of truth had come.

* * *

The National Mall was crowded with people of all faiths standing shoulder to shoulder as they listened to the various speakers and heard the musicians play. In this group of people there was only one goal and that was peace. This was a crowd of strangers willing to put all of their differences aside and listen to other viewpoints as they struggled to make sense of the world each lived in.

There were four men making their way through the crowds who had one goal in mind and that was to stop the proceedings with as much death and destruction as possible. Two of these men had strapped vests to their persons and were waiting for the exact moment to detonate. One of the men was looking for just the right perch to watch the proceedings, and the last man was waiting for that perch to be located so he could report the position to his counterparts.

* * *

The two bombers were in decidedly different parts of the crowd since each had no knowledge of the other. One had positioned himself near a group of Jewish college students who had come all the way from New York to be present for the festivities. The other was settled close to a group of Islamic moderates who were fighting to see their religion recognized for its commitment to peace. The young man sneered to himself. These people were traitors…comfortable dealing with the Infidels. In his opinion they deserved their fate just as much as the nonbelievers. He was ready and was just waiting for the signal to go. The time of fire had come.

* * *

Gibbs found himself flat on his stomach on a nearby rooftop as he scanned the crowds. He had the picture sitting beside him as he looked for his target. The crowd had begun to swell during the noon hour as more people were taking their lunch in the park area and enjoying the festive atmosphere of the rally. He scanned an area that held signs from a Jewish group from Columbia University and froze as he noticed his target standing nearby. The target was young, no more than eighteen, and looked nervous as he fingered his coat. Gibbs whispered quietly in his com, "DiNozzo, what's your and David's twenty?"

"We're on the Northwest perimeter of the crowd, working our way in. Why?"

"Go one click straight in. I see the target standing beside a group from Columbia University. Look for the signs. If you can't take him quietly I'm on target and ready to take a shot."

"Roger that, Boss."

Tony and Ziva quickly made their way to the described group. She stopped for a second and exchanged pleasantries with the group while at the same time scanning the crowd for the bomber. As soon as Ziva spotted him she nudged Tony and nodded in the direction of their target. "He is there."

Tony gave a grim smile and followed as Ziva slowly made her way towards the target. He seemed oblivious to her presence as he nervously plucked at his coat. As she made her way closer she quickly readied herself by slipping up behind him. Tony walked straight towards him, stumbling as if intoxicated, and as soon as he made contact with the bomber she struck. When the smaller man fell backwards she moved rapidly and snapped his neck before anyone could notice. She and Tony adjusted their now dead target and walked away supporting him as if he were simply passed out. They were able to quickly make their way to the command center and leave the body with the Medical Examiner and the bomb squad before leaving to return to the crowd and the search for the second bomber.

* * *

From his perch above the main group of gatherers, Ahmed could see his man fall and be 'helped off' the park by a man and a woman. He snarled as he finally noticed all of the police officers and other official looking people walking through the crowd of celebrants. This would not do at all. It was time to give the final command to detonate to his final remaining operative. Giving a last glare at the crowd he pulled out his phone and began to dial a pager number.

* * *

Michael Rivkin suddenly saw his quarry sitting on a roof top above the crowds enjoying the rally. He reached for his phone and made a quick phone call…

* * *

Eve Dupree with Agent Sacks hot on her heels was running through the crowd on the way to the shelter where Ahmed had made his perch. She was speaking rapidly on her phone as she ran up to the structure. Rivkin was waiting at the door, and the two spies and the FBI Agent looked at each other then entered the building looking for an access point to the roof. The three found a small closet with a stairwell in the back and entered carefully. Eve pushed Sacks to the back of their threesome as she led the way up the stairs.

"Stay back. Michael and I will handle this."

Sacks was insulted by her statement and tried to get in front of the petite black haired woman. "What the hell…" He sputtered when the Mossad Officer turned and again gave him a careful push.

"Agent Sacks, please stay back and let Agent Dupree and myself handle this."

The two spies didn't give him another chance as they made their way on the roof and immediately spotted Ahmed at the far end of the roof. They raced across the structure and Eve stood in front of the Saudi, her gun trained on a spot directly between his eyes.

"Don't move." Her tone was low and deadly as the two men caught up to her.

The terrorist sneered at her, "Woman, move out of my way or die with the infidels!" He quickly pushed the send button on his phone just as she pulled the trigger. Her bullet entered his forehead and exited the rear of his skull leaving a mess of blood and gore on the roof. Ahmed fell, but his call had activated the pager of the second bomber. Rivkin picked up the phone and glanced at the number.

"I know this number…" This is for another of the youth who followed Ahmed. He must be the second bomber." His dark eyes were alarmed as he made the connection.

Eve scanned the crowd, frantically searching for the man in question. She could see nothing and knew that time had run out. She knew that Gibbs was on a nearby roof, and hoping he could see something she immediately made contact.

* * *

Watching through his scope Gibbs saw the confrontation between Agent Dupree and the man on the roof. He could see the conversation between the two spies and her frantic search in the crowd. He wasn't surprised to suddenly hear a voice in his ear.

"Gibbs!" Her voice lacked the indifferent cool he'd come to relate to everything about her.

"Yeah?"

"We got Ahmed. He paged someone. I can't see anyone who looks suspicious. Do you see anything from your vantage point?"

He immediately began to scan the crowd with his scope but saw nothing out of the way. "Negative. "His gut was screaming that something very bad was getting ready to happen, so for lack of another diversion he pointed his gun in the air and fired several shots in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

* * *

Gunshots…The crowd immediately reacted to the sound by beginning to scatter. There was screaming as people began to panic, and the law enforcement officers surrounding the surging crowd had their hands full as they attempted to calm everyone down and move them safely away from the stage area.

* * *

Not too far from the panicking throng a young man looked at the beeper on his belt, recognizing the number he grabbed his detonator from his pocket. He knew that his time was short, and he began to pray ardently as he took a firm grasp of the device and pushed the button.

* * *

An explosion… Fire, white hot and burning…debris and bodies.

Death.

_**7**__And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. __**8**__ And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth._ _– Revelation 6:7-8  
_


	16. Telling Tales

Well, for the last time…I don't own them. I can't believe that we've made it to what feels like the end of the journey. Tony and Eve have really come a long way and gotten into too much trouble to mention. Thanks again for all of your wonderful reviews, comments, and for sticking with me through this series. It really makes me sad to say it, but please enjoy the last chapter in our journey…

One More thing...Violence alert for those of you who might be upset by that.

Telling Tales

_Tell me who you love, and I'll tell you who you are. -- __Creole Proverb _

* * *

Ziva knew something was going to happen. If she had been asked all she could have said was that she had a 'bad' feeling. The gunshots turned her bad feeling into action, and she immediately grabbed Tony and dove for cover.

A second later an explosion rent the air with fire and smoke. Ziva closed her eyes and realized she was reliving one of a hundred other instances from her homeland. As they lay huddled together beside the command center and waited for the air to clear they could hear sirens approaching and the screams and cries of people. Finally they stood and began to assist in the recovery.

The force of the blast shook the building where Gibbs was ensconced. He watched the action from his scope, and was relieved to see both DiNozzo and David emerge from a sheltered area. He stood and shouldered his weapon and began a rapid descent from his perch so he could assist the rescue crews.

Special Agent Sacks stood speechless as the explosion took place. From this vantage point he could see everything taking place. He could see the fire, smoke, and the bodies of the injured and dead. Ahmed had indeed found the perfect perch from which to watch the destruction. He turned his shocked gaze to his two companions and found them standing side by side at the ledge, the body of the terrorist at their feet, watching the crowd below. A few seconds after the noise from the explosion abated he was following them back down to the ground level to assist in the search for survivors.

* * *

Two weeks later Ziva sat in front of her computer screen and read the final news reports about the suicide bombing. The media had been full of praise for all of the law enforcement agencies, rescue, and medical teams involved in the operation. Because of their seamless teamwork there had been minimal loss of life. They had ended up with a tally of 8 civilians and five law enforcement officers dead. There had been another fifteen individuals gravely injured as well as countless minor injuries including one woman who had suffered a heart attack. Luckily she had been taken to the hospital and was expected to make a full recovery

Since two of the dead had been part of the group of moderate Islamic believers, there had been immediate condemnation worldwide. In honor of the fallen, plans for another peace rally were in progress.

The dead terrorists were mourned by no one.

She had been able to see Michael briefly before he had been called back to Tel Aviv to report to her father. Ziva missed him already and was currently making plans to take a trip home.

* * *

Eve Dupree sat in a tiny cantina in Juárez, Mexico waiting for her companion to return. She had been following her target for the better part of a week as he traveled first from Denver, Colorado, to Dallas, Texas and finally to Mexico. Jeff Davis had killed the WitSec Marshals watching him and had taken to the road to meet some of his contacts. As far as she could ascertain he was in the process of obtaining an alternate identity with which to escape. Eve grinned to herself even as she took a sip of her warm beer. He wasn't going to get the chance to escape.

She barely noticed when her companion returned, only taking her eyes off the target when a fresh drink was put in front of her. She finally turned her head and met the steady gaze of the man who had accompanied her.

"Thanks." She indicated the drink, pausing to take a sip of the foamy liquid.

Tony took a sip from the same glass and motioned to the man they were both watching. "I see he hasn't made a move yet." He took another longer sip and said, "I managed to find the place."

"Good."

"I've got to be back in the office on Monday. You going to be done by then?"

She leaned over and brushed her lips against his. "This will be finished tonight and then we'll have a long weekend to enjoy ourselves."

Tony took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He couldn't believe that he was sitting in yet another bar, with her, waiting for a hit to take place. It felt a bit like déjà vu and definitely reminded him of the first two weeks they'd spent together.

He couldn't lie; he wanted Jeff Davis dead just as much as Eve did. The bonus was that Davis was number one on the FBI's "Most Wanted List" and had been since the day his Marshals were found murdered in their beds. Tony had given little thought to actually arresting Davis when Eve told him that she had been given the green light to find him and finish her last assignment. Tony had promptly applied for and been granted a week of leave so he could watch her back, not that he told Gibbs exactly where they planned to go for their 'vacation.'

Tony turned his attention back to the woman sitting next to him. It had been hard, but they had put Morocco behind them. He was happy; the only thing that would make him happier would be if she turned in her CIA credentials. He had been amused to watch her as she avidly stalked Davis across two states and across the border into Mexico. She had been relentless and he wondered what she would be like if she applied her drive to investigating crimes.

His musings were interrupted by Davis standing and following his contact out of the back entrance to the cantina. He and Eve were up a second later and right on his tail. They watched as the two men shook hands and separated right outside the door, and followed Davis as he headed slowly towards the street.

Eve reached for her boot knife and glanced at Tony. "You ready for this?"

He nodded and dropped back to watch her six as she followed the target, staying in the shadows of the dark alleyway they were in. Davis paused for a moment to heed the call of nature, and Eve closed the distance between them rapidly, finally standing directly behind him with her wickedly sharp blade pressed to his kidney.

Davis immediately stilled feeling the blade press against his back. "What do you want? My wallet is in my back pocket. Take it and go."

Eve grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around to face her. She snarled, "What makes you think that you have enough money to buy me off?"

The man inhaled sharply. He looked at the small woman standing in front of him and thought about trying to fight his way out of the situation. He almost made a move in that direction but finally noticed the gun DiNozzo had trained on him.

Tony shook his head. "Not a good idea to stop and take a piss here."

Feeling vulnerable, Davis tried to tuck himself back into his pants but was stilled by the knife that dropped dangerously close to his genitals.

"Move again and I'll cut it off." She paused for a second and gave him a dispassionate look. "Why did you think it was a good idea to kill the marshals and run? You should have known that as soon as you did that John would cut me loose."

"I honestly thought I could get out of the country before you were on my trail."

Tony smirked. "You thought wrong."

"Obviously…" his words were cut short by her knife as she drove it in to his stomach as deep as it would go. She viciously twisted the blade to cause maximum damage.

"I owed you that one for kidnapping me." He gasped and put his hands over the wound and felt his lifeblood spill over his hands. Suddenly he felt even more pain as her blade slipped lower and fulfilled her promise of just a few seconds ago. "I told you I'd cut it off if you moved."

"Wha… why…"

"Oh, that was for all of that 'quality' time we spent together in the back room. I'll see you in hell, Jeff."

She turned her back on the bleeding, dying man and walked back over to Tony. He wordlessly handed her a pack of moist wipes to clean her hands and weapon with. She rapidly cleaned up then put the used items in a small bag which she tucked back into her backpack.

"Thanks." She then pulled a 22-caliber semi-automatic pistol from her bag and put a silencer on the end. She walked back over to the body and put two slugs into his head before turning away.

Tony shook his head but didn't comment as she unscrewed the silencer and replaced both items in the bag. They walked away from the carnage hand in hand without once looking back. Tony finally looked at her and asked, "How do you feel?"

She paused for a second and seemed to honestly consider the question. Finally she turned her emerald green gaze to him and smiled. "Better."

Tony gave a bark of laughter and realized that he actually felt better, too.

* * *

Six Months Later…

Gibbs and Fornell looked at each other with amusement as the listened to the "discussion" taking place over the headset.

"I can't believe this…I could be lying on a beach in the South of France right now. Whose bright idea was this anyway?"

"Jesus, Tony. This is only going to take a couple of days and we're done. We need to get this guy and his guns off the streets. Come on…man up for me here."

The two team leaders snorted with laughter at the bemused tones coming from the woman on the other end of the microphone. Gibbs finally decided to weigh in.

"DiNozzo?"

"Yeah, Boss."

"Are you through bitching yet?"

"Shutting up now, Boss."

"Good. Your target is entering the room and is sitting down at the table in the left corner. Ziva and McGee are waiting outside if you need back up."

The other voice chuckled and interjected, "Piece of cake. We'll make contact and be out of here in a couple of minutes."

Gibbs cleared his throat and continued, "By the way…I believe it was _your idea_ to postpone your honeymoon to finish this Op. If you're upset about it now…don't come complaining to me."

Tony's tone was slightly sarcastic when he replied, "Gotcha…my fault…what else is new? We're getting ready to make contact. Is everyone ready?"

"Affirmative." McGee's quiet tones came over the headset.

"I am ready." Ziva piped in a second later.

"Are you ready to do this, Tony?"

"Let's do it."

Both Fornell and Gibbs turned their attention to the computer monitor in front of them as the FBI technician shifted slightly to make room for both of the men to watch the surveillance video. They could see both Tony and his companion walk into the room and slowly make their way to the bar. They sat there for several minutes, ordering a drink and making sure they were in no danger of being compromised.

Gibbs was watching, but his attention wasn't on the pair who graced the screen. He was thinking back to the end of the fiasco with Davis and all of the fallout from the bombing at the peace rally. The last six months hadn't been easy, but the wedding had been the highlight. Gibbs had enjoyed acting as Tony's Best Man at the small ceremony several weeks prior.

There had been virtually no break between cases in the last couple of months. It seemed that there had been a murder a week for a while, and now here they were again working with the FBI. Fornell had wanted their assistance running a sting to stop a gun runner and his Marine connection since they were putting major weaponry on the streets of Baltimore. It had been a messy assignment, and Tony's wedding had taken place right in the middle of it. Gibbs still couldn't believe that they had actually agreed to postpone the honeymoon long enough to complete this undercover assignment. If all went according to plan then they should have enough evidence to arrest the suspect before the night was over with. He turned to Fornell and nudged his shoulder.

"How's she working out for you?"

"She's doing a great job. Actually, I was shocked when the DNI reassigned her to us permanently, and I wasn't sure that she could make the transition from working Covert Ops to FBI SOP, but she's handled it beautifully. The only complaint I have is that she put Sacks out for two months with that beating she gave him."

"Hey, the way I heard it, he asked for it."

"I know, Jethro, but even you've gotta admit…it was brutal."

"Well, maybe next time he'll keep his mouth shut and not force the issue. He _could_ be taking the celestial dirt nap."

"I tried to warn him." Fornell paused then snarked, "You could at least tell DiNozzo not to enjoy it so much!"

Gibbs chuckled and took a sip of his ever present cup of coffee before turning his attention back to the screen. He hated surveillance with a passion. Everything was hurry up and wait. Gibbs sighed and drank more coffee. He knew that he was getting impatient in his older age when he couldn't even sit in a surveillance van anymore.

Fornell turned back to Gibbs and asked, "Did you hear that Jeff Davis' body was found in Juárez?"

Gibbs was nonplussed by the news and replied, "Yeah, I heard. Got what he deserved."

Fornell nodded his head in agreement and both men turned their attention to the action taking place in the bar. Their team was only a few seconds from making contact with the target.

The pair had slowly made their way to the table and casually began speaking to the man they had been tailing. Both Gibbs and Fornell could hear the voices coming over the headset.

"Hello, Mr. Markov. I'm Anthony DiSalvo, and this is my wife Eve. We hear you are in the business of procuring specialized items."

The man sitting at the table looked up at the pair standing before him. He narrowed ice blue eyes and quickly made an assessment before replying. "Mr. and Mrs. DiSalvo is it? Ah yes, I've heard of you. You've done some business with the Colombians, correct? Please join me; we'll talk business."

Eve gracefully lowered herself into the chair next to Tony and slanted her eyes at the target. "Thank you. We're looking for some specialized items for a client."

Their new companion looked intrigued and paused for a moment to light a Cuban cigar. He sat back and puffed on it in enjoyment, his pale eyes closed for a second. Finally, he waved his hand for her to continue.

"Do you have any contacts that can procure ten cases of M-16s? I know, not very imaginative, but our client is interested in…hmm…home defense."

"That is easy. I can have the product for you by tomorrow." He slid a slip of paper across the table. Tony picked it up and pretended to blanch at the amount.

"Steep."

"I don't haggle over price. If you pay my price I can guarantee there will be no complications or police involvement."

Tony cocked his head to the side, considering the other man's assurances. "You've got a deal. We'll meet you at the docks at 7 am with the money."

Eve placed her hand on Tony's arm and gave the arms dealer a winning smile. "If that is so easy for you, perhaps you can satisfy another client for us at the same time. Do you by chance have a contact that has access to Kalashnikovs?"

"My dear, that is easy. How many do you want?"

She gave a dangerous smile and replied, "As many as you have. Our client will pay in diamonds."

She could see the greed in the other man's eyes as he contemplated a bagful of diamonds as payment for his weapons. "I can get twenty five cases of them. I will have them in the morning as well." He slid another sheet of paper across the table and smiled, "Tell your client to be prepared."

Eve smiled and nodded her head at Tony. He gave her a startled look as the pair stood. He grabbed her hand and gave it a hard squeeze as they began to walk away.

She turned her head slightly and hissed, "WHAT?"

He gave her fingers a tight squeeze and whispered, "That wasn't on the script. What are you up to?"

She said nothing simply gave him an enigmatic smile and followed him out of the door.

In the van Gibbs gave Tobias a dagger like glare as he asked, "Did you know that was going to happen?"

"Of course not. Do you really think I'd approve a change of plan without discussing it with you first? Now, just what the hell is she up to?"

Gibbs shook his head, ready to tear his agent a new one. "I have no clue; why don't we find out."

A few minutes after that the group met in the back of the surveillance van. Fornell turned to his agent and snapped.

"Agent DiNozzo just what the hell were you doing? You're supposed to clear all changes through us _BEFORE_ you go off script."

Gibbs couldn't resist adding a head slap to his agent and growling, "Sit Rep DiNozzo!"

Eve and Tony looked at their respective bosses and could practically see the steam coming from both sets of ears. They looked at each other for a minute, and both men groaned when they saw the conspiratorial smile pass between the two agents.

Gibbs shook his head in amusement and all he could think was, "Here we go again."

_fin_


End file.
